It’s rare I read something in the business press that is directly relevant to me.
After all, the number of people trying to build asset management businesses is vanishingly small; so small that it’s rarely worth anyone’s time to cater to us.
So, it was with great interest that I read Bloomberg’s interview with Henry Kravitz, the co-founder of KKR and one of the fathers of the private equity business.
By far the most interesting part of the interview is Kravitz’s discussion of culture. KKR always focused on building an institutional investment business, rather than an empire for the founders. That’s what has allowed them to attract high quality people and build enduring relationships with their LPs, even after making some disastrous deals.
We are also trying to build an institutional-class investment business (the kind that can be trusted with hundreds of millions or billions of dollars). I have no illusions that we’ll be even a tenth as successful as Kravitz and his partners, but their example is inspiring.