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自稱冰島人曾是件容易的事,因為直到幾年前,沒什麼人知道我們的存在,我基本上可以在像這樣的舞台僅談好的一面,但最近幾年,我們因為幾件事而聲名狼藉,首先,當然是經濟崩盤,情況之糟,甚至有人將冰島放到 eBay 上拍賣(笑聲),99 仙是起價且無底價,然後是火山灰中斷了多數的旅行計劃,在場各位多數及您的友人都受到影響,包括歐巴馬總統,順道一提,該火山的發音是「Eyjafjallajokull」,各位的國內媒體都沒發對音(笑聲),但我今天並非來此分享這些故事,不確切是關於這兩則,我要講的是 Audur Capital 的故事,一間金融公司,由我及 Kristin 共同創辦,圖中是她,那是 2007 年春天,約是經濟潰堤的前一年,為何兩位女性正享輝煌的投資銀行企業部門職涯會想要離開創立一間金融服務公司?這麼來說吧,我們受夠了充斥男性荷爾蒙的環境,我並不是說男性造就那場經濟危機或是發生在冰島的事,但我可以肯定的告訴各位,在我的國家,就像在華爾街及倫敦及其他金融城,男性仍執牛耳,尤其是金融產業的運作,那種缺少多元性和其固有的相同性導致災難性的問題(掌聲),於是我們決定出手,因為已受夠了這樣的世界,同時深有所感,這樣的世界無法永續發展,於是我們創了一間金融服務公司,根據我們的價值觀,我們決定將女性價值觀加入到金融世界中,這讓一些冰島人睜大眼睛,我們直到那時才被視為非典型女性,在冰島這個國家中,所以,幾乎就像出櫃,實際地談論我們身為女人的事實,我們還相信我們擁有一組價值觀與做生意的方法,結果會是更能永續發展,與我們先前的經歷相較之下,還有一群很棒的人加入我們,一些擁有非凡技能且有原則的人、有遠見的投資者以及價值觀與我們相符的人,我們共同渡過冰島金融危機的暴風眼,沒有任何直接的資產或客戶基金損失,雖然我要感謝公司內有才幹的職員,因為他們是最重要的資產,還有好運與時機的因素,我們絕對相信的是因為我們的價值觀使我們成功。
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以下為系統擷取之英文原文
It sure used to be a lot easier to be from Iceland, because, until a couple of years ago, people knew hardly anything about us, and I could basically come out here and say only good things about us. But in the last couple of years we've become infamous for a couple of things. First, of course, the economic meltdown. It actually got so bad that somebody put our country up for sale on eBay. (Laughter) 99 pence was the starting price and no reserve. Then there was the volcano that interrupted the travel plans of almost all of you and many of your friends, including President Obama. By the way, the pronunciation is "Eyjafjallajokull." None of your media got it right.
(Laughter)
But I'm not here to share these stories about these two things exactly; I'm here to tell you the story of Audur Capital, which is a financial firm founded by me and Kristin -- who you see in the picture -- in the spring of 2007, just over a year before the economic collapse hit. Why would two women who were enjoying successful careers in investment banking in the corporate sector leave to found a financial services firm? Well let it suffice to say that we felt a bit overwhelmed with testosterone. And I'm not here to say that men are to blame for the crisis and what happened in my country. But I can surely tell you that in my country, much like on Wall Street and the city of London and elsewhere, men were at the helm of the game of the financial sector. And that kind of lack of diversity and sameness leads to disastrous problems.
(Applause)
So we decided, a bit fed-up with this world and also with the strong feeling in our stomach that this wasn't sustainable, to found a financial services firm based on our values. And we decided to incorporate feminine values into the world of finance. Raised quite a few eyebrows in Iceland. We weren't known as the typical women women in Iceland up until then. So it was almost like coming out of the closet to actually talk about the fact that we were women and that we believed that we had a set of values and a way of doing business that would be more sustainable than what we had experienced until then. And we got a great group of people to join us -- principled people with great skills, and investors with a vision and values to match ours. And together we got through the eye of the financial storm in Iceland without taking any direct losses to our equity or to the funds of our clients. And although I want to thank the talented people of our company foremost for that -- and also there's a factor of luck and timing -- we are absolutely convinced that we did this because of our values.
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所以,我要與各位分享這些價值觀,我們相信危機意識,這怎麼說?我們相信,每個人總要瞭解自身所承擔的風險,我們不會投資我們不瞭解的標的物,這不是複雜的概念,但 2007 年是次級房貸危機的高峰期,而所有複雜的金融結構卻反其道而行,從事不顧後果的高風險交易,此行為充斥於金融市場,我們還相信直言,僅平述事實,使用簡單、易懂的語言告訴投資者不利的一面及有潛在利益的一面,甚至直言沒人想說的壞消息,像我們不相信冰島金融產業的永續發展,我們在危機來臨前的幾個月就已明言,雖然我們從事金融業,資產表主掌一切,但我們仍相信情緒資本,我們仍相信謹慎處理情緒問題的重要性等同於謹慎處理金融操作,因為,實際上是人們生財與散財,而非 Excel 報表(掌聲),最後一點同樣重要,我們相信有原則獲利,我們關心如何獲利,所以,當我們要為我們自己及客戶掙取經濟利益時,我們願意從長遠的角度來操作,我們對獲利採較寬廣的定義,而非只是下一季的經濟利益,我們的投資視利益加上正面的社會評價及環境利益的組合,但不只是價值觀,雖然我們深信那很重要,生意機會也很重要,這是個女性潮流、永續潮流,將會產生一些最有利的投資機會,就在未來幾年內,女性潮流,並非意味著女性優於男性,而是女性不同於男性,將帶來不同的價值觀與操作模式,結果為何?做出較優的決策,產生較少的從眾效應,這兩點都能對營利淨額造成非常正面的收益,但有人會臆想,冰島金融業已崩盤,歐洲目前看起來也極不樂觀,有人也會說,美國現在也面臨很多的問題,這些都已發生,我們也握有所有的數據告訴我們最好做多樣性的投資決策。交易和金融操作會改變嗎?政府會改變嗎?我會直接了當地告訴各位,我有時相信,有時滿腔狐疑,有任何迫切的需求要重建那些讓我們倒下的體制嗎?(掌聲)愛因斯坦曾說,精神錯亂的定義是重複相同的事,不斷地重複,希望產生不同的結果,我想,世界瘋了,因為我所見的完全就是不斷地重複相同的事,希望這次那不會再讓我們倒下,我想看到的是較創新的想法,我仍抱持希望,就像 TED,我相信人們,且清楚消費者已愈來愈明智,他們在投資時會像投票一般,他們將會從外部為交易與金融操作帶來新面貌,如果他們不從內部來做的話,但我較偏向革新,我應該,因為我來自冰島,我們長久以來,一直以堅強、勇敢及獨立的女性著稱,打從維京時期即是如此。
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So let me share with you our values. We believe in risk awareness. What does that mean? We believe that you should always understand the risks that you're taking, and we will not invest in things we don't understand. Not a complicated thing. But in 2007, it was at the height of the sub-prime and all the complicated financial structures, it was quite opposite to the reckless risk-taking behaviors that we saw on the market. We also believe in straight talking, telling it as it is, using simple language that people understand, telling people about the downsides as well as the potential upsides, and even telling the bad news that no one wants to utter, like our lack of belief in the sustainability of the Icelandic financial sector that already we already had months before the collapse hit us. And, although we do work in the financial sector, where Excel is king, we believe in emotional capital. And we believe that doing emotional due diligence is just as important as doing financial due diligence. It is actually people that make money and lose money, not Excel spreadsheets.
(Applause)
Last, but not least, we believe in profit with principles; we care how we make our profit. So while we want to make economic profit for ourselves and our customers, we are willing to do it with a long-term view. And we like to have a wider definition of profits than just the economic profit in the next quarter. So we like to see profits, plus positive social and environmental benefits when we invest.
But it wasn't just about the values, although we are convinced that they matter. It was also about a business opportunity. It's the female trend, and it's the sustainability trend, that are going to create some of the most interesting investment opportunities in the years to come. The whole thing about the female trend is not about women being better than men, it is actually about women being different from men, bringing different values and different ways to the table. So what do you get? You get better decision-making. And you get less herd behavior. And both of those things hit your bottom line with very positive results.
But one has to wonder, now that we've had this financial sector collapse upon us in Iceland -- and by the way, Europe looks pretty bad right now. And many would say that you in America are heading for some more trouble as well. Now that we've had all that happen, and we have all this data out there telling us that it's much better to have diversity around the decision-making tables, will we see business and finance change? Will government change?
Well I'll give you my straight talk about this. I have days that I believe, but I have days that I'm full of doubt. Have you seen the incredible urge out there to rebuild the very things that failed us? (Applause) Einstein said that this was the definition of insanity -- to do the same things over and over again, hoping for a different outcome. So I guess the world is insane, because I see entirely too much of doing the same things over and over again, hoping that this time it's not going to collapse upon us. I want to see more revolutionary thinking. And I remain hopeful. Like TED, I believe in people. And I know that consumers are becoming more conscious, and they are going to start voting with their wallets, and they are going to change the face of business and finance from the outside, if they don't do it from the inside.
But I'm more of the revolutionary, and I should be; I'm from Iceland. We have a long history of strong, courageous, independent women, ever since the viking age.
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我要向各位講述我初次體會到女性對經濟及社會的重要性,那時我七歲,當天是我媽的生日,1975 年 10 月 24 日,冰島女人休假一天,不上班、不燒飯,她們一罷工,冰島即停止運作(笑聲),她們昂步走進首都雷克雅維克市中心,要求將女性議題列入議程,有些人認為這是全球運動的濫觴,對我而言,那是長征的開始,但我決定將那天視為十分重要,五年後,冰島人選出 Vigdis Finnbogadottir 作為總統,第一位女性元首,單親媽媽,患過乳癌,一邊乳房已切除,在一場造勢活動中,她的一名男性對手暗示她不能成為總統的事實,她是女人,甚至只是半個女人,那夜,她當選了,因為,她反擊,不只是因為對手的差勁行為,她的回擊是,「我並不想哺育冰島人,我要領導冰島」(掌聲),我有許多了不起的女性模範,她們影響我及日後的所做所為,但話說如此,職涯的前 10 或 15 年,我大多在否定身為女人的事實,從美國企業開始,我完全相信這事僅關乎個人,男女機會平等,但我稍後的結論是,事實並非如此,我們不同,那感覺很棒,因為我們不同,我們創造並承續生命,所以,我們應擁抱不同並致力於挑戰,最後要與各位交流的是我受夠了這種蠻橫的若非/即是的人生選擇題,若非男性,即是女性,我們必需開始擁抱平衡之美,讓我們跳脫一頭生意,一頭慈善的思考模式,開始思考做良善生意,那是我們改變世界的作法,那是唯一能讓未來永續發展的作法,感謝聆聽。
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And I want to tell you when I first realized that women matter to the economy and to the society. I was seven -- it happened to be my mother's birthday -- October 24, 1975. Women in Iceland took the day off. From work or from home, they took the day off, and nothing worked in Iceland. (Laughter) They marched into the center of Reykjavik, and they put women's issues onto the agenda. And some say this was the start of a global movement. For me it was the start of a long journey, but I decided that day to matter. Five years later, Iceland Elected Vigdis Finnbogadottir as their president -- first female to become head of state, single mom, a breast cancer survivor who had had one of her breast removed. And at one of the campaign sessions, one of her male contenders alluded to the fact that she couldn't become president; she was a woman, and even half a woman. That night she won the election, because she came back -- not just because of his crappy behavior -- but she came back and said, "Well, I'm actually not going to breastfeed the Icelandic nation, I'm going to lead it."
(Applause)
So I've had incredibly many women role-models that have influences who I am and where I am today. But in spite of that, I went through the first 10 or 15 years of my career mostly in denial of being a woman. Started in corporate America, and I was absolutely convinced that it was just about the individual, that women and men would have just the same opportunities. But I've come to conclude lately that it isn't like that. We are not the same. And it's great -- because of our differences, we create and sustain life. So we should embrace our difference and aim for challenge.
The final thought I want to leave with you is that I'm fed up with this tyranny of either/or choices in life -- either it's men, or it's women. We need to start embracing the beauty of balance. So let's move away from thinking about business here and philanthropy there, and let's start thinking about doing good business. That's how we change the world. That's the only sustainable future.
Thank you.