Castle Hill Values - 1 of 4 - Integrity
Castle Hill Values - 1 of 4 - Integrity
After working for four firms in 3 years, the transitions all due to the actions or decisions of others, my partners and I started Castle Hill Capital Partners. We launched the firm on four foundational principles that we had not experienced together at any of our prior firms.
Integrity
Accountability
Collaboration
Control
In our 10th year of operations, I wanted to put a few more words around the principles that guide our firm.
It all starts with Integrity.
Our business is difficult. Understanding a range of complex strategies requires both curiosity and expertise. Engaging with LPs to understand their portfolios and investment processes requires patience and organization. Working with both sides to introduce strategies that add value to highly constrained investor portfolios is complicated and a low-probability event. Against that backdrop, however, it is near impossible if you can’t trust your colleagues or counterparties.
Charlie Munger put it best in one of his last podcast interviews when he said something to the extent that it is better to have a handshake with an honorable person than a 90-page contract with a crook.
Sharing information, introducing relationships, expecting fair compensation, and managing expectations appropriately require foundational integrity.
Selling is hard. Working independently and selling is both lonely and hard. Engaging in these activities while having to allocate bandwidth to watch your back or resolve conflicts with clients and colleagues becomes next to impossible. At Castle Hill, we have zero tolerance for unethical behavior or actions that do not meet our high threshold for integrity. 1 strike and you’re gone - clients and colleagues alike.
Shortcuts seem easy at first but come at a cost. Each infraction erodes integrity and trust. This goes for the selling process, operations, finances,...any aspect of the firm. We want our colleagues focused entirely on delivering for their clients - working in teams where helpful, confident that the person next to them shares a similar set of operating principles - and not expending one iota of energy distracted from their core mission.