WEBVTT - Robin Vince Talks US Assets 0:00:02.520 --> 0:00:07.040 Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news. 0:00:07.960 --> 0:00:10.319 What are you seeing right now? Are you seeing those 0:00:10.400 --> 0:00:13.640 changes that people are talking about, that diversification away from 0:00:13.800 --> 0:00:14.400 US assets? 0:00:14.400 --> 0:00:15.480 Do you see that at all now? 0:00:15.920 --> 0:00:18.160 We really don't see that in the data at this point. 0:00:18.239 --> 0:00:20.280 I remember where we've come from, which is the US 0:00:20.280 --> 0:00:24.160 has been really an incredibly strongly performing market, strong economy. 0:00:24.280 --> 0:00:27.120 People who've been predicting the US to be some type 0:00:27.120 --> 0:00:29.920 of decline from an economic point of view, recessions, we've 0:00:29.920 --> 0:00:31.479 talked about that in the past two or three years. 0:00:31.520 --> 0:00:32.800 None of that's actually happened. 0:00:32.800 --> 0:00:34.879 And in fact, now I think you find and you've 0:00:34.880 --> 0:00:38.479 heard this on your show, more optimism associated with what 0:00:38.600 --> 0:00:41.720 the next year holds from an economic point of view, 0:00:41.800 --> 0:00:45.360 GDP pretty solid, looking to potentially even expand in twenty 0:00:45.360 --> 0:00:48.280 twenty six. You've got the stimulus checks coming the way 0:00:48.280 --> 0:00:51.159 that they actually didn't adjust their withholding in order to 0:00:51.159 --> 0:00:53.560 be able to encourage those stimulus checks. That all is 0:00:53.600 --> 0:00:55.120 a pretty good setup. And you've got to be in 0:00:55.120 --> 0:00:58.320 the preparedness business. We're all risk managers, and at the 0:00:58.400 --> 0:01:00.000 end of the day, you've got to be resilient because 0:01:00.240 --> 0:01:02.760 things can go wrong. Things can happen but I think 0:01:02.760 --> 0:01:06.639 that's the setup, and so reallocating away from the US 0:01:06.640 --> 0:01:09.360 in the face of that probably not the smartest choice 0:01:09.400 --> 0:01:09.759 to make. 0:01:09.840 --> 0:01:12.360 But you've got to be diversified. 0:01:11.760 --> 0:01:13.800 So you cannot have the concentration you has been a 0:01:13.840 --> 0:01:16.160 pretty concentrated bet over the past few years. 0:01:16.200 --> 0:01:18.240 Although what's the consequence of that. I mean, there's a 0:01:18.240 --> 0:01:22.000 difference between reallocating away from and diversifying. There is some 0:01:22.080 --> 0:01:24.680 knock on effect, which is maybe some people are calling 0:01:24.720 --> 0:01:27.479 cell America, other people are just saying diversifying and hedging 0:01:27.480 --> 0:01:29.760 your bets. I mean, how much will that affect the 0:01:29.760 --> 0:01:31.720 funding conditions of the United States. 0:01:31.880 --> 0:01:34.080 Well, if diversification makes sense, one needs to have a 0:01:34.080 --> 0:01:37.360 balanced portfolio. It's just good risk management. It's good investment 0:01:37.400 --> 0:01:39.520 management to make sure that you've got exposure to the 0:01:39.600 --> 0:01:41.600 various different opportunities that are out there. 0:01:41.920 --> 0:01:44.319 But we certainly have seen and you know, look around. 0:01:44.360 --> 0:01:45.320 We're a global firm. 0:01:45.400 --> 0:01:49.040 We provide platforms and serve clients all across the world. 0:01:49.200 --> 0:01:50.680 But when you look at the US and you just 0:01:50.720 --> 0:01:52.600 look at the facts of the performance over the course 0:01:52.640 --> 0:01:54.680 of the past decade, you look at all the innovation 0:01:54.760 --> 0:01:57.160 that's been in the US, all of the value that's created. 0:01:57.400 --> 0:02:00.560 AI is one example technology. More generally, it would have 0:02:00.560 --> 0:02:03.680 been a mistake to not have participated in the US market, 0:02:03.760 --> 0:02:06.200 and so a little bit of rebalancing, a little bit 0:02:06.200 --> 0:02:08.960 of sort of thinking about how to make sure you've 0:02:09.000 --> 0:02:11.480 got the right portfolio where there's equities, fixed income. We 0:02:11.520 --> 0:02:14.040 talk about sixty forty. Oh gosh, it was dead. Now 0:02:14.040 --> 0:02:17.160 it's back bonds. Okay, where do you want to be 0:02:17.200 --> 0:02:19.760 exposed to in the bond market? You know, the US 0:02:19.760 --> 0:02:22.639 bond market is still the most liquid market in the world, 0:02:22.800 --> 0:02:24.760 and it is still the closest thing to a risk 0:02:24.800 --> 0:02:26.040 free asset that there actually is. 0:02:26.160 --> 0:02:28.359 How important is it that Senator Tom Tillis stays and 0:02:28.440 --> 0:02:30.200 senate at least for the next three hundred and sixty 0:02:30.200 --> 0:02:33.120 four days. He was on just a moment ago with 0:02:33.200 --> 0:02:35.200 us and he was talking about how he's not going 0:02:35.240 --> 0:02:40.480 to hold confirmation hearings until the DOJ suitor inquiry into 0:02:40.560 --> 0:02:44.560 a FEDOJ Powell is lifted. I'm just wondering, from your perspective, 0:02:44.919 --> 0:02:48.160 how important it is to see that type of noise 0:02:48.240 --> 0:02:50.560 died down around the Federal Reserve for you to feel 0:02:50.600 --> 0:02:52.959 confident that this truly is going to remain the status 0:02:53.000 --> 0:02:54.360 quo going forward, right, Well. 0:02:54.240 --> 0:02:56.680 The sentence is a great public servant, and I appreciate 0:02:56.720 --> 0:02:59.520 all of his time serving in the US Senate. But 0:02:59.560 --> 0:03:01.360 I think you hit the key point, which is, at 0:03:01.400 --> 0:03:03.440 the end of the day, is not super helpful for 0:03:03.560 --> 0:03:06.480 the long term objectives of the US, which are keep 0:03:06.600 --> 0:03:09.160 interest rates on the low side, to be able to 0:03:09.160 --> 0:03:11.360 make it easier for people to be able to borrow, 0:03:11.400 --> 0:03:13.040 to be able to buy a home, to be able 0:03:13.040 --> 0:03:15.400 to fund a car payment, for companies to be able 0:03:15.480 --> 0:03:16.920 to borrow in order to be able to fund and 0:03:16.960 --> 0:03:17.960 invest their businesses. 0:03:18.120 --> 0:03:20.280 For all of that, we want low rates, so. 0:03:20.360 --> 0:03:23.120 Creating and sort of shaking at the foundation of the 0:03:23.120 --> 0:03:26.320 independence of monetary policy, that's not really in the interests 0:03:26.360 --> 0:03:28.680 of keeping long term rates slow. 0:03:29.080 --> 0:03:31.000 So I think it is helpful if that. 0:03:30.919 --> 0:03:32.680 Dies down and we can get back to the business 0:03:32.840 --> 0:03:35.560 of releasing the economy perform. 0:03:35.400 --> 0:03:37.440 Counterproductive, which is the words you use in the past 0:03:37.440 --> 0:03:38.160 when it comes to it. 0:03:38.240 --> 0:03:40.480 Have you any engagement with the White House about this 0:03:40.640 --> 0:03:42.040 issue given the concerns. 0:03:42.680 --> 0:03:45.880 We're always talking to the administration making sure that we're 0:03:45.920 --> 0:03:48.240 giving our point of view, and so that's of course 0:03:48.280 --> 0:03:50.000 that's one of our jobs and one of my jobs 0:03:50.040 --> 0:03:52.280 as a CEO is to be talking all across the 0:03:52.320 --> 0:03:56.200 administration and in Congress and giving them our perspective. And 0:03:56.400 --> 0:03:58.600 I do think it is in the interests and the 0:03:58.640 --> 0:04:01.200 administration has been very clear they would like to see 0:04:01.480 --> 0:04:06.200 long term interest rates lower because it benefits companies and individuals. 0:04:06.280 --> 0:04:09.080 And so if that's the objective, then making sure that 0:04:09.080 --> 0:04:11.840 we're keeping the Federal Reserve sort of a little bit 0:04:11.920 --> 0:04:14.720 out of the news and not super controversial, I would 0:04:14.800 --> 0:04:17.520 personally say, would be would be would be in further 0:04:17.560 --> 0:04:18.400 into that objective. 0:04:18.520 --> 0:04:20.400 It's certainly very much in the news at the moment. Robin, 0:04:20.440 --> 0:04:22.080 Can we talk about your business? It has to be 0:04:22.120 --> 0:04:24.720 a much changing in what direction are you leaning into? Well, 0:04:24.760 --> 0:04:27.240 we've been reimagining the company, to be quite honest. You know, 0:04:27.240 --> 0:04:29.479 we've got a fun history. We're two hundred and forty 0:04:29.600 --> 0:04:31.839 years old. We were born right around the time of 0:04:31.880 --> 0:04:35.080 the United States seventeen eighty four, oldest bank in the nation, 0:04:35.520 --> 0:04:37.080 one of the oldest companies in New York. 0:04:37.080 --> 0:04:39.280 It's that's a fun history. Now we've got to be 0:04:39.360 --> 0:04:41.720 old because we've been innovating all along the way. We've 0:04:41.760 --> 0:04:45.520 stayed very focused on customers and our culture is important. 0:04:45.680 --> 0:04:48.239 That's how you get to be a long lived company. 0:04:48.440 --> 0:04:49.679 So what have we been doing. 0:04:49.880 --> 0:04:52.440 We've been taking stock of what we've actually got, our 0:04:52.480 --> 0:04:56.560 real assets, our great businesses, and we've really been focused 0:04:56.560 --> 0:04:58.479 on delivering them better for the client. Used to be 0:04:58.720 --> 0:05:02.280 a bunch of pieces, kind of siloed, fragmented, and so 0:05:02.320 --> 0:05:04.719 we set out three years ago to say, we're just 0:05:04.800 --> 0:05:07.040 going to reimagine the company and we're going to pull 0:05:07.040 --> 0:05:09.920 ourselves together. We're going to focus on our clients. We've 0:05:09.960 --> 0:05:12.640 got these market leading businesses, what kind of a financial 0:05:12.640 --> 0:05:15.960 services platforms company these days? And we're going to rally 0:05:16.040 --> 0:05:19.680 round as a team. Very important that culture team to 0:05:19.720 --> 0:05:21.080 be able to deliver for customers. 0:05:21.080 --> 0:05:22.840 And you can see the results. So this was past 0:05:22.920 --> 0:05:23.719 quarter for us. 0:05:23.760 --> 0:05:25.520 Which comes to the sort of the end of that 0:05:25.600 --> 0:05:28.360 first three year chapter. It was a quarter of records. 0:05:28.400 --> 0:05:29.960 It was actually a year of records for us in 0:05:30.000 --> 0:05:33.799 twenty twenty five. Record revenue, record pre tax income, huge 0:05:33.800 --> 0:05:36.200 EPs growth, and the market's rewarded us for that. But 0:05:36.240 --> 0:05:39.120 what they're really looking through and seeing is the fact 0:05:39.120 --> 0:05:41.600 that we're delivering for our customers, and that's what it's 0:05:41.600 --> 0:05:42.039 all about.