Question

A Very significant change in the market structure has been underway for several years which have seen a dramatic reduction in the number of publicly traded companies. as someone who regularly interacts with CEOs and other business people, I have found that increasingly executives prefer to work either for private equity firms, family offices or private companies. many have gone in that direction but I am waiting for one to come back.

Not only are the number of companies shrinking but the mutual fund industry is losing assets to full indexation ( a multi decade trend) and now exchange traded funds (ETFs) which offer opportunities to invest or trade in various strategies at a lower cost than mutual funds but much higher than indexation.

Which will have the longest term horizon with respect to strategy or financial objectives?

a. Private company

b. Private equity held company

c. Public company

d. United Federation of Planets

Answer 1

Private company will have a long term strategy and a plan to achieve its horizon .

Among the factors important to the time horizons of a company's investments and largely under the control of company governance or management are the following:

Investment decision-making and planning methods

Incentives and reward plans for management

Operational and project management techniques

Career paths and patterns for employees

Corporate financial structure and practices

This section describes major management and governance practices that influence the time horizon a company exhibits. The role of management and corporate governance in capitalization (debt/equity structure, decisions about how and when to raise capital, methods of obtaining investment capital without going to the financial markets) is dealt with only briefly in this section.