But our purpose is to create something more than that. Our purpose is to build a global business, taking the skills and experience we've accumulated and using them to meet the needs of people across the world. Our purpose is to do all that competitively, providing excellent returns to those who've trusted us with their investments, but also, and simultaneously, we're determined to do business in a way which contributes to human progress. And we want to do that because being aligned with the needs of your customers is the only way to build a thriving business. So, our established presence in Europe and the US is the base from which to go forward.
Purpose is essential, but so is a sense of reality.
Ambitions can only be achieved if you're fully conscious of the world around you - because the realities of the world will determine what you have to do to fulfil your purpose. Reality is complex, and often messy. The current reality of transatlantic relations is certainly complex and messy. Disputes which can threaten to divert attention from the fact that on many, many things the area of common understanding and agreement is enormous. These disputes exist and keep recurring and I hope this programme can help in some small way to resolve them or at least to encourage everyone involved to keep them in context.