Our
Culture Code

People don’t buy what
you do, they buy why
you do it.
Simon Sinek

‘Posi+ive
Change’
We believe in creating…
for our clients and our
profession (this is our why).

We believe in challenging
the status quo by…
thinking + +
acting advising
differently (this is our how).

We believe in getting
better
results
(for international people & companies
wanting a scientific approach to wealth
and benefits planning).
(This is our what).

*i.e. we continue
to work hard to
get there.
This presentation is part manifesto
and part employee handbook.
It’s about who we are,
and what we aspire
to become*.

What is
culture?
A set of shared beliefs,
values and practices.

1 TON
Our Culture Code is the
operating system that
powers us.

Culture
happens.
Whether planned
or not, all
organisations
have a culture.

We want
a culture
people
love..

amplifies
their abilities
Culture doesn’t just help
attract amazing people, it
& helps them do their best work!

Now a fact…
Financial services
is changing.
(Then).

Now a fact…
Financial services
is changing.
(Now).

But – many companies and
people are frozen in time.

Because these
people work in
mercenary industries
and sell products for
their gain…

Because these
people work in
mercenary industries
and sell products for
their gain…
not the clients.

We dare
to be
different.

We transform an outdated financial
industry that manufactures and sells
expensive, toxic products and
investments into a missionary profession.

The Japanese call this…
‘KAIZEN’.
カイゼン

Our Founder calls this…
‘marginal
gains’.
(He’s a keen cyclist).

Values are what we value. Ours are:
Knowledge,
Integrity &
Teamwork.
These behaviours are valued and rewarded.

We believe professionals must
always act in the client’s best interest
(a fiduciary). Hallmarks are:
(This is the Knowledge value).

(This is the Integrity value).
We believe professionals…
Treat others as they
would want to be
treated.

This is known as the platinum rule
stemming back to the Babylonion
Code of Hammurabi in 1754 BC.
Think doctor, teacher or priest.

We believe we can achieve more
together, than we can alone…
(This is the Teamwork value!)

So, to be clear, our values aim
to ensure clients make better
decisions and get
the best
results
(and feel l ved).

We therefore
not competitors.
obsess
over
clients,

We are also results driven.
Results matter.
More than
the hours
we work.
More than
where we
produce them.
More than
how popular
people are.

Our professionals
must get
results.
Does hitting our results
and revenue goals support
our long-term mission?

Yes!
Creating ‘Posi+ive
Change’ requires
having clients.
(Funny how that works).

We are radically transparent…
Internally
and

We share
everything.
Today success is gained
by sharing knowledge,
not hoarding it.

The intent behind our
transparency is to support
smarter
behaviour
& better
decisions
(for clients and ourselves).

We trust
ourselves
– and resist complexity at every level.

Use good
judgement.
Instead of getting authorisation
to bring in more policies and
procedures we have a 3-word
policy on just about everything.

What is good judgement?
Client
Organisation
Self

Organisation Self
Don’t prioritise your personal interests
at the expense of the organisation.
Be a team player, not a politician…
Don’t fritter away the organisation’s
resources (this includes time)!

Don’t prioritise the organisation’s
interests at the expense of the client.
Working for clients’ interests is in all
of our long-term interests.
Client Organisation

So…
we are unreasonably picky
about our people.

There are
that we value and comprise
‘the perfect person’.
5 attributes

#1 Smart
You have a
super-power that
makes you stand out.
You are curious.
You are self-improving
& a life-long learner.

#2 Works Hard
If you’re just ‘doing your
job’ – you’re not doing your
job. Adequate performance
is not enough.
Remarkable outcomes
rarely result from
modest effort.

#3 Ambitious
You recognise the unparalleled opportunity
before us and get busy making magic and
finding the ‘spark’.
We are pioneers of a better model
and the financial well-being of future
generations depends on the
achievement of our mission. If we
fail – people suffer. We must
change the marketplace, it’s
that simple.

#4 Nice
You recognise our
cultural norms and
abide by them…

#5 Selfless
Client
Organisation
Self
You do not put your
personal interest
before the client or
the organisation.

Smart, Works Hard,
Ambitious, Nice, Selfless.
We love
SWANS.

Compromising on culture
is risking our futures.
Skills and experience matter…
but congruency
to our culture
matters more.

NO.
Does this mean we only accept those
who match our values perfectly?
Confucius has good advice here…

Better a
diamond with
a flaw, than a
pebble without.

We’re a TEAM,
not a family.
We hire, develop and cut
smartly because we want
to have real SWANS in
every position.

Sometimes we make
hiring
mistakes.

Sometimes we make
We need to react quicker
to these.
hiring
mistakes.

We invest
in growing
our people.

But…
people need to be
responsible for their
own career growth and
not solely rely on
‘corporation’ planning.

Ongoing learning
Big challenges
Broad exposure
Amazing results
How do we increase our value
as individuals?

There are two ways to progress at AES.
#1 Be brilliant as
an individual
contributor and
make magic.

There are two ways to progress at AES.
#2 Provide
spectacular
support to
those who
are doing #1.

If you’re just
doing your job,
you’re not doing
your job.

We are Pilgrims, master, we shall go
always a little further; it may be beyond
that last blue mountain barred with
snow, across that angry or that
glimmering sea.
Excerpt from Flecker
Inscribed on the clock tower of 22 Special Air Service Regiment

Our people
must go
further…

We’d rather be failing
frequently, than never
trying new things.

This means we must often… REFACTOR
Pull out unused features.
Remove unnecessary rules.
Stop generating useless reports.
Automate manual processes.
Cancel unproductive meetings.
Prune extraneous processes.
Ensure ever more high-performing people.

So to recap…

The AES culture code
We are mission driven.
We challenge the status quo.
Values are what we value.
We get better results.
We are radically transparent.
We believe in autonomy not autocracy.
We are unreasonably picky about
our people.
We invest in growing our people.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

Our culture is not
perfect for everyone.
We are not a utopian
place to work…

We have
issues.
Here are a few…

There is tens on
between short-term
goals vs long-term
ambitions.
We lean towards the long term,
but it’s not always easy.

Change can
be difficult
(and sometimes elicits
fear and anger).
Not all decisions are
popular, but delaying action
perpetuates the problems
we are fighting to destroy.

Because things are
moving fast and
changing constantly,
it can feel chaotic.
It feels chaotic
because often
it is chaotic.

We have our flaws.
But, this only gives scope for more…
Posi+ive
Change.

We were predominantly inspired by
who in turn credit the following legends:
The Netflix Culture Deck (McCord & Hastings)
“Drive” (Daniel Pink)
The Valve Employee Handbook
“Rework” (Fried and Hansson)
Google’s People Ops Team… and countless
others online

Thank you.
Congrats for making it to slide 72!
Contact us to learn more.

Connect with us
hello@aesinternational.com
www.aesinternational.com

More about us
We are a professional services business with financial
services (health, wealth and education) at our core.
Our focus is on enabling better decisions.
Values are what we value.
We like to talk because of the importance of our
mission in transforming people's lives. You can hear
what we say by clicking any of these.