Theory and practice… theory suggests mastery of today’s increasing business complexities as a prerequisite for success, while the reality of business success often lies in getting the basics right (and I mean baaaaaasics).

Don’t believe it?

– Consider the view of some of the most prestigious wealth managers and private banks in the world in response to how they weathered the credit crisis? Returning phone calls.

– In one of our early studies on wealth management, a U.S. fund manager had inadvertently sent out statements to their clients showing zero balances. Priceless.

– Among the key criteria to being a preferred provider for professional fund buyers? Don’t call all the time, but do get back immediately with tailored information when specifics are requested – i.e. call back.

Basics.

Of course, Asia is a mystery to most non-Asian financial institutions and our trips, meetings and discussions have enlightened us mightily over the years (needless to say it’s still pretty dark regardless).

A few interesting anecdotes on getting the basics right in China:

– When invited to dinner by a client, bring a gift such as wine or tea (not rocket science, polite and universal); but never bring “four” items of anything… “four” (四; sì) in mandarin sounds like “death” (死; sǐ)- also the reason why you won’t find a fourth floor in any building. Also don’t bring any kind of time pieces (no Lange & Soehne, pls) since the words “give clock” are very similar to the words “attend someone’s funeral”.

– Then again, if you have enough money double the four and bring eight items and you are in luck. Eight (八; bā) sounds like “prosper” or “wealth” ((发 – short for “发财”; fā) – even in regional dialects the words for “eight” and “fortune” are similar. Which is, by the way, why someone in Chengdu paid close to $300,000 for a telephone number with only digits of 8 in it.

Certainly, by now you think I am exaggerating and this is not important in the financial services industry. Maybe, but companies that have been in the region for a while are very much focusing on those details:

– Companies with a long history in the region have traditional Chinese names that carry positive connotations, e.g. Citibank and HSBC.

CITIBANK, 花旗銀行, 花旗 (Hua Chi) – “colorful flag”
HSBC, 匯豐銀行, 匯豐 (Hui Fong) – “flourish, rich”

– International fund managers, such as Fidelity or Allianz, use names similar to their Western names but which also have specific positive investment connotations:

FIDELITY 富達 (Fu Da) – “rich, prominent”
DRESDNER ALLIANZ 德盛安聯, (De Sheng An Lian) – “virtue, flourish, safe, joint”

Getting the basics right. Not a guarantee for success, but it sure as hell makes life easier at dinner.