The networked financier

"Interviews with experienced financiers in global financial centers reveal their strategic network behavior which they employ to access social capital. This enhances their performance. Referrals were used to acquire Interviewees. This methodology provided access to top financiers in the financial centers of London, Zurich, New York, Hong Kong, Singapore, Shanghai, Beijing, and Mumbai. Digitally recorded interviews focused on financiers' network behavior in corporate and investment banking, hedge funds, private equity, venture capital, fund management, real estate investment, insurance, and private banking. Extensive quotes are mechanisms to explain how financiers behave. Social network theory supplies the lens to interpret that behavior. Financiers face a dilemma. They need sophisticated knowledge to perform their jobs but accessing that knowledge demands extensive time. This detracts from their performance. Their networks help resolve that dilemma. Financiers use face-to-face interactions in formal and informal meetings to acquire knowledge resources and build relationships. Alumni ties and organizational memberships constitute components of current networks, but financiers disagree about their usefulness. They devise sophisticated network strategies to initiate a contact. Non-face-to-face and face-to-face mechanisms help build and maintain relationships. In every financial center and sector, trust is the foundation of relationships. Financiers incorporate advances in telecommunications, changes in the workplace, and reconsideration of approaches to long-distance travel into their network behavior. Fintech is an adjunct to financiers' practice. The interviewees play important roles in their respective sectors; therefore, the results reveal the 'best practices' of financiers"--