Sloane Payne and Dave Joerger – Why Culture Matters (EP.500)
Capital Allocators – Inside the Institutional Investment Industry
Ted Seides – Allocator and Asset Management Expert
4.7 • 841 Ratings
🗓️ 4 May 2026
⏱️ 59 minutes
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Summary
Sloane Payne and Dave Joerger are the COO and CCO of WCM Investment Management, a firm chronicled over the years for its remarkable culture and growth to $120 billion in assets under management. This special conversation was hosted by Scott MacDonald on our affiliate Investment Management Operations podcast.
Their conversation describes WCM's culture in practice that includes hiring for character over credentials, trust as an operating principle, overtrusting before proof exists, generous compensation and shared equity, values as a daily practice, connection through relational investment, making mistakes feel survivable, scaling culture by modeling behavior, accountability alongside kindness, and succession planning without financial burden. Sloane and Dave believe the atypical human blend of these disciplines has been the primary driver of the firm's success. Although not the origin of its name, it's perhaps not surprising that WCM also stands for Why Culture Matters.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | I wish people understood how simple it is to run a good business. And by that, I mean, you got to measure things. You have to hold people accountable. But doing it systematically and systemically, I think is a fool's errand. And instead, this idea of treat people really well, be generous, overtrust them before they think they're ready, show them that you trust them, |
| 0:22.3 | be honest, be candid, make work feel safe, make mistakes feel safe, celebrate errors, encourage |
| 0:29.6 | people to learn and get better. It's just not that hard. And be curious. You know what? And sometimes |
| 0:35.3 | we fuck up. Sometimes I'm actually an asshole. And then when I do, |
| 0:38.4 | I'm say sorry. It sounds so cliche. We start talking about these values together, but the company is |
| 0:44.5 | still made up of people. It's just people that you're trying to get through the day and perform |
| 0:49.7 | better inch by inch. And all you have to ask yourself yourself is how can I make this person better? |
| 0:56.0 | Forget the company, forget the entity, forget the structure, just focus on the person |
| 1:00.0 | and what would make that person do something great and that's all you have to focus on. |
| 1:06.0 | All the other pieces for themselves when you focus all that purpose behind the people as opposed to the entity. |
| 1:13.0 | It sounds cliche, but it works. |
| 1:20.2 | I'm Ted Sides, and this is Capital Allocators. |
| 1:26.2 | Today's show is episode number 500, although technically it's actually the 583rd episode. |
| 1:34.0 | I thought a fitting to mark the occasion with an exploration of why culture matters in an |
| 1:39.4 | investment organization. |
| 1:41.4 | The guests on today's show are Sloan Payne and Dave Juerner, C-O-O and C-C-O of WCM Investment |
| 1:48.6 | Management, a firm I've chronicled over the years with a remarkable culture that fueled its |
| 1:54.2 | growth to $120 billion in assets under management. This special conversation was hosted by Scott McDonald |
| 2:01.4 | on our affiliate investment management operations podcast. |
| 2:05.5 | It's so good I wanted to repost it here. |
| 2:08.7 | Their conversation describes WCM's culture in practice |
| 2:12.0 | that includes hiring for character over credentials, |
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