More likely, this success is remarkable testimony to generations of managers who had a good assessment of risk, plenty of common sense, a strong attachment to their core business and an ability to resist the temptation of exotic new opportunities. It sounds simple.
Yet the managements and Boards of some of the world’s largest and most sophisticated financial institutions did not meet that standard during the past decade, and the fallout is now upon them (and the rest of the world). Much shareholder wealth has been destroyed and reputations of some major institutions damaged.