Man Group plc - Corporate Responsibility Report 2007

“Corporate responsibility is the discipline by which we evidence and quantify responsible behaviour to all of our stakeholders. In so doing, we build and sustain their trust in and commitment to our Group.”

Harvey McGrath
Chairman, Man Group plc

Last year we published our first dedicated Corporate Responsibility Report. We used that Report to put on record our commitment to corporate responsibility, to define it in the context of our culture and business and why we believed it was important, and to outline the strategy by which we proposed to pursue it.

“We must be transparent in all our interactions with our stakeholders, particularly in our reporting.”

This year’s report will offer an overview of progress since then: how our thinking has evolved over the course of the year; how we have performed against our targets, and how we propose to sustain and enhance the reputation we have worked hard for over 200 years to build.

This year has been a particularly challenging one for our corporate responsibility initiative, given competing demands on our energies and attention: the integration of Refco, preparation for the Initial Public Offering of MF Global, not least, the underlying pressures exerted by the rapid growth in our global business.

Given the extent of competing pressures, we believe we have made real progress in strengthening our corporate responsibility governance but we have some way to go in embedding it ever more deeply into the fabric of the business. We remain firmly committed to doing more, imbuing an ever more pervasive culture of ‘good corporate behaviour’ into everything we do – as individuals and as a Company.

Our commitment to corporate responsibility, as stated clearly in last year’s report, reflects our belief in the primacy of trust as a fundamental factor in our business. Maintaining, quantifying and evidencing good business behaviour sustains and enhances our reputation, which in turn sustains the trust of our people, our customers and our other key stakeholders. Reputation and trust lie at the heart of our understanding of the importance of corporate responsibility, hence our preferred definition: “Responsible behaviour to all stakeholders which will engage their trust in and commitment to our company – doing the right thing and ensuring we are doing so in a quantifiable way.”

But how does one decide what constitutes ‘responsible behaviour’? What is ‘the right thing’ in any given situation? To be in a position to answer, one’s first principles have to be clear: the foundation on which all else is built. Man Group’s position is ultimately rooted in these four fundamentals:

Integrity – to be responsible, honest, open, transparent and fair in all our dealings with our stakeholders and among ourselves. Excellence – to strive for excellence in everything we do, including our delivery of products and services to customers, our interactions with the outside world and our delivery of promises to our people. Performance – to deliver outstanding performance against the legitimate and realistic expectations of our customers, distributors and shareholders. Innovation – to be at the forefront of our industry in terms of the timely development and delivery of new products and services, rigorously and comprehensively tested for risk, compliance and customer suitability.

If there is a ‘first among equals’, as stated last year: “Of these core principles, integrity is fundamental, for without it the contribution of the other three principles will be diminished and eroded.”

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