Bring me a balance sheet and a calendar

Most of the letters I find useful begin with a balance sheet. If you chair a nominating committee or advise one, tell me the company, the committee you have in mind, its meeting calendar and the decision the board expects to face in the next two years, whether that is a pension transfer, a refinancing or a new credit book. Please name any connection with Wrenfield, our operating insurer or Thresholm Capital Partners, including debt we might hold, so that I can check conflicts before we speak.

I am also glad to hear from CFOs and audit-committee members working through LDTI, private credit valuation or reinsurance decisions, and from organisers of finance and governance programmes.

Some subjects I must leave alone: Wrenfield's unpublished results, our discussions with rating agencies, pending transactions and anything else that is material and not public. I am not considering executive moves while the capital from the care transaction is being redeployed, and I do not take introductions from vendors or placement agents. The details on this page reach me directly, and I reply within about ten days.