08
2023
The impact of Inflation and interest rates on capital allocation
In 2021, Martin Schwarz, CEO of Stern Value Management, warned that rising inflation could increase the risk-free interest rate to 4% or more, which has now happened.
Read More Jul18
2021
Measuring Performance in Oil & Gas
Drivers of value are different in Oil & Gas than in other industries. Traditional accounting measures do not properly reflect the value-creation potential of an integrated Oil & Gas company
Read More May21
2021
The Real Risk of Persistent Inflation on Shareholder Value
Both the PPI and the CPI are up in April from a month and a year ago. Inflation impacts shareholder value in a couple of areas: the first is on a firm’s profitability. The second area, the increase in the risk-free rate, impacts all firms.
Read More May03
2021
Now is the Time to Re-examine Your Capital Structure
Today’s rapidly evolving and volatile macroeconomic environment requires corporate executives to evaluate whether their current capital structures are optimized for ongoing shareholder value creation.
Read More Apr23
2021
iOS14 and Facebook Changes in Marketing: What This Means for Value Creation
Executives can incorporate these value-based insights into their strategic planning and capital allocation discussions over the coming months and show that they are committed to sustained shareholder value creation.
Read More Dec28
2020
ESG and Value Creation
Recently, one of the issues that has emerged of relevance to investors, entrepreneurs, and governments, is the value of ESG (environmental, social, and governance) considerations in capital markets.
Read More Nov20
2020
US vs. Chinese Companies Revenues or Value Creation?
The latest report has shown that Chinese companies now outnumber US firms in the Fortune 500 and outperforms the corporate performance of the United States.
Read More Sep30
2020
David v. Goliath in Retail
Few great companies remain successful over more than a decade. Those that do reinvent, reconfigure, and never rest or think that they have won.
Read More Aug21
2020
Capital Structure—Debt in Times of Uncertainty
The optimal capital structure (debt and equity mix) for your business is where cost of capital is at the lowest level it could possibly be without any negative impact on the continuity of the business.
Read More Aug13
2020
What Does a CEO Need to Do to Not Get Paid?
CEO Incentive Compensation Plans Are Broken. It is Time to Fix Them
Read More Jul30
2020
Minimize the Value Destruction: Management's Commitment in Time of Crisis
Companies have been forced to preserve cash flow during this unprecedented global economic crisis. However, the search for liquidity should not supplant the primary objective of maximizing long-term shareholder value.
Read More Jul28
2020
Aerospace & Defense (A&D) Contractors
Capturing Value Creation Among Prime A&D Contractors through VBM - Value Based Management ™ and Economic Value Added (EVA®)
Read More Jul21
2020
Capital Allocation: Tangible vs. Intangible Assets
Industries with higher investments in intangibles have better weathered the recent decline. So what should firms in industries that are not known for significant investments in intangibles do?
Read More Jul13
2020
Leverage by Industry in Times of Uncertainty
A rise in leverage brings with it an increase in the risk of financial distress, especially in times of uncertainty.
Read More Jul07
2020
The Use of TSR in Executive Incentive Compensation
Corporate boards and shareholders are faced with urgent questions on how to address executive compensation during times of crisis. In addition to other doubts cast upon the soundness of using Total Shareholder Returns (TSR) in executive incentive compensation, should executives be rewarded based on shareholder returns from shares that are trading at potentially distorted prices due to the Fed’s intervention in the market?
Read More Jul01
2020
VBM Principles During Crisis: A Guide for Corporate Governance
Periods of change are the time to re-evaluate your organization’s corporate governance. The efficacy of corporate governance can oftentimes determine the success or failure of an otherwise promising company. VBM - Value Based Management™ understands the centrality of corporate governance on a business’s operations and position in the overall market.
Read More Jun23
2020
VBM - Value Based Management™ and Economic Value Added (EVA®)
What is the central goal of your business? The answer should be to create sustainable value for the owners of the company. VBM - Value Based Management™ provides a framework to achieve that goal. Value creation should be embedded in all key corporate processes for a company to have superlative performance. This lead to the creation of the EVA System, now better known as VBM.
Read More Jun16
2020
VBM - Value Based Management™ is the Antidote to Corporate Fragility
The coronavirus pandemic has brought back into the spotlight the works of Nassim Taleb on risk and fragility. Let’s examine how the principles of VBM - Value Based Management™ can be integrated with some of Taleb’s principal theses to improve corporate governance and finance.
Read More Jun09
2020
COVID-19: A Catalyst
The war on Covid-19 has been a catalyst for remote working and for control (contact tracing): the fear of biological viruses now outpaces the anxiety of tech viruses.
Read More May20
2020
Who Pays the Cost of COVID-19 Capital?
Nothing, especially capital, is free. The trillions of dollars being plowed into the economy because of COVID-19 are not growing on trees. Someone has to pay for that capital.
Read More May18
2020
Globalization after COVID
Severe downturns repeat themselves. Markets collapse. Poor choices—those that had looked brilliant—are revealed. Everyone looks shocked when the prior common wisdom is debunked. Some are embarrassed. Previous Cassandras gloat. Finally, errors are corrected. Markets are relieved and rebound.
Read More May14
2020
Corporate Planning—A COVID-19 Casualty
The corporate planning and budgeting process, the foundation of all capital allocation and bonuses, is a casualty of COVID-19. It is time to move away from the archaic, months long process into a dynamic, flexible one.
Read More Apr20
2020
COVID-19 AND YOUR BUSINESS: Financial Strategy in Times of Uncertainty
We are facing a global economic downturn not foreseen by those dedicated to building economic and financial forecasts. The resulting uncertainty calls for the adoption of appropriate corporate financial strategies. These can be divided into two major areas: preparation and financial policy execution. We will explore these two areas in this article with the intent of helping companies incorporate severe stress scenarios into a financial strategy framework as they continue on their path to maximize long-term shareholder value.
Read More Apr17
2020
COVID-19 AND YOUR BUSINESS: Leading in turbulent times: How our small business survived. Memories and lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Difficult times require creative minds, cooperation, and a clear focus on the activities that create value for the organization. When one part of the business ecosystem is weak, the others may suffer; when the parts grow together the chain strengthens. In turbulent times, more than ever, VBM – Value-Based Management™ approach will support your business growth while providing the right incentives for your employees.
Read More Apr14
2020
COVID-19 AND YOUR BUSINESS: Value Propositions in a Coronavirus World
We have witnessed firsthand how clients and businesses across the world are being negatively impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. As our thoughts go out to all those suffering, we thought we would do our part by sharing some of our insights into how businesses can continue to sustain or create shareholder value during these difficult and uncertain times.
Read More Apr10
2020
COVID-19 AND YOUR BUSINESS: VBM - Value-based Management™ Principles in Times of Coronavirus
Learning and adapting during the COVID-19 era will set the pace for an organization’s future performance. The VBM - Value-based Management™ approach comes in very handy to set the foundation for effective capital allocation and governance structures. To get through hard times you need to adapt and build the right incentives that allow your organization to be agile, resilient, and generate the necessary outcomes for short-term endurance and long-term success.
Read More Mar30
2020
The Share Buyback Mania
Bad financial advice is a feature of history....and the last decade had a few for sure. Our favorite has to be the advice given by the so-called finance gurus to senior management teams: “Buy back your shares. It’s a sure way of driving up your share price!”
Read More Feb24
2020
The Corporate Governance Case for Listing on Major Stock Exchanges
Embedding and ensuring robust Corporate Governance is vital for firms in less developed markets that get listed on a major stock exchange. But a listing does not guarantee better performance, adopting world-class best practices is a choice executives must make.
Read More Dec31
2019
Archives
See below for our older articles.
Visit Site Dec09
2019
Why Shareholder Value and Not Stakeholder Value?
While the debate on the issue of shareholder value vs. stakeholder value has been on-going for decades, it re-gained prominence...
Read More Mar29
2016
The SEC's Clawback Proposal: Our Recommendations from a Value Management Perspective
We have been following the developments in clawback policies in compensation very closely over the last several years. In this article we introduce the SEC’s latest proposal on clawbacks (Proposed Rule 10D-1) and provide recommendations to affected companies.
Read More Mar01
2016
Should My Firm Hedge?
In the first article of this two-part series on hedging, we discussed two best practices in hedging policy management. In this article – part two of the series – we ask a precursor question: should my firm be hedging? The answer to this question will vary by firm and will depend on the circumstances surrounding the decision to hedge.
Read More Dec16
2015
Hedging Policy Management
In an economic environment with a strengthening dollar, a weakening euro and yen, and a steady anticipation of interest rate hikes in the US, the topic of currency hedges comes closer to the spotlight particularly for multinational firms with presence in the US, Europe, and/or Asia.
Read More Aug25
2015
Vault Recognizes Stern Value Management as a Top 50 Consulting Firm
It’s been a busy year for Stern Value Management, and the hard work is paying off – we are recognized as a Top 50 firm in the 2016 Vault Consulting Firms ranking. We are also recognized as a Top 10 firm in key categories, which are highlighted below.
Read More Aug13
2015
Why Pay Ratio Disclosure Will Create More Problems Than it Will Solve
Why will disclosing the ratio of CEO pay to the median pay of employees is pointless, costly and has the potential to backfire...
Read More Mar10
2015
Profit or Value: What Should We Share?
Ask a chief executive if value is important to him or her, and he or she will likely say yes. Ask if employees are important stakeholders in the enterprise, and the answer will almost certainly be yes.
Read More Feb26
2015
Value Based Management - A Poison Pill Against Activist Investors
Activist investors have been lauded and criticized by many. The Economist magazine recently published a special report on these investors, dubbing them the saviors of capitalism.
Read More Feb12
2015
Strategic Planning Done the Right Way
A common misconception is that “free market” proponents – and their most recognized advocate, Eugene Fama, Nobel Prize laureate – believe that stock markets are perfect.
Read More Feb09
2015
The Problems with Traditional Planning
Most firms spend more time on negotiation than on strategy when it comes to setting targets. In these firms, planning is traditionally tied to the budgeting process, which in turn is linked to variable compensation: a unit negotiates a target with its corporate office and then its managers are paid the incentive if they meet the target.
Read More Jan15
2015
Time to Cut Fuel Subsidies
Fuel subsidies are elitism dressed as populism. Thus, they are irresistible to politicians in developing countries.
Read More Dec12
2014
2015 Economic Forecast
Last year my economic forecast for 2014 called for a rate of real economic growth of 4% for the U.S., much higher than the prevailing forecast at the time as well as the prevailing rate of economic growth that had existed in the years 2010-2013.
Read More Aug18
2014
Indonesia in Southeast Asia: Moving Up the Value Chain
As Stern Value Management has done annually, this year we have looked at the wealth creation of the 100 largest Indonesian and 100 largest ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) firms over the last 5 years. In order to measure wealth created by firms, we use the Wealth Added Index (WAI™)...
Read More Aug16
2014
In Pursuit of Long-Term Sustainable Alpha
This article is an introduction to how companies can lay the foundation for long-term value creation. We will discuss three major steps they can take to achieve this goal.
Read More Jan01
2014
2014 Economic Forecast
There are three rules in economics that need to be explained before an economic forecast can be justified.
Read More May20
2013
EVA® and Operational Analysis
The objective of all corporations is to create value for shareholders. One way to achieve this is by improving a firm’s operations. Although the principle is straightforward, determining exactly what improvements should be carried out to increase or at least sustain the overall value of the firm remains a challenge for management.
Read More Apr24
2013
Financial Policy: What is the Optimal Capital Structure and Why Does The Debt Level Vary Among Industries?
The objective of firm value maximization is at the heart of corporate financial theory. A company can create value through its operating, investment, and financing decisions.
Read More Mar21
2013
Successful Entrepreneurs Manage Your Value
The current economic crisis that has engulfed most of the developed economies since 2008 has spurred much change around the world. It encouraged economists and management scholars to think differently about entrepreneurship.
Read More Feb21
2013
Financial Performance and Leadership Change at Top Companies in G7 Countries
Over the past few years the global economy has been riding a roller coaster. The most recent financial crisis first started in the United States during the summer of 2007.
Read More Jan21
2013
Performance Appraisal Versus Value-Driven Strategy: A Study of America's Oil and Gas Industry
In the oil and gas industry, performance appraisal and strategy are diametrically opposed. Key indicators highlighted in annual reports include return metrics like ROACE (return on average capital employed), or production metrics, such as cost per barrel and production barrels.
Read More