The 2017 All-America Executive Team: CEOs Go Long on Value

When a company makes a strong showing in the financial markets, chances are that it’s the result of a decision made several years ago, not one based on last quarter’s numbers. The best executive teams in some of the bedrock U.S. industries understand this dynamic, and they excel at helping investors grasp it too. We spoke with several of the top CEOs on亚博赞助欧冠’s 2017 All-America Executive Team to learn how they think about shareholder value.

联合太平洋公司成立于1862年，是美国最古老的公司之一;在少数几个具有从海岸到海岸延伸的网络的铁路运营商中，它还发出了铁路系统的健康。在无人驾驶长途汽车的新世界，无人机交付和Hyperloop，Lance Fritz作为联盟太平洋主席和首席执行官的角色可能看起来像一个过去时代的回归。但是，在2016年的前三季度，该公司通过股息和股票回购，弗里兹告诉股票返回股东约36亿美元返回股东亚博赞助欧冠.

今天的火车是更清洁的，更环保的，稍得多，使远程旅行更加高效。几年前，联盟太平洋开始投资更加可持续的火车，这一举措通过更好的技术和较低的燃料消耗来节省成本。虽然近年来商品遭到困扰，但他们开始表现出生命的迹象，这一趋势可以帮助抵消对新铁路需求的世俗衰退。

联合太平洋专注于经营高效的铁路网络，其股息策略在周期性平静期间为投资者提供了另一种确定性的肯定，弗里茨竞争。“我们的金融团队融入公司的面料内，确保新业务是可再投资，资本投资产生有吸引力的回报，”他说。“这一学科为股东创造了价值，并提供了重大回报。”截至11月11日，联盟太平洋的股票年初截至18％以上，收于96.88美元。

罗纳德Mittelstaedt，自1997年推出的卫生服务提供商曾担任首席执行官和废物联系董事，赢得了商业，教育和专业服务类别的顶级首席执行官现货。

Mittelstaedt’s long tenure keeps him philosophical about reactionary markets and finicky shareholders. “Value creation doesn’t generally happen by accident; it’s something you have to be purposeful about over five, ten, 15, 20 years,” he says. “You have to ingrain it in the culture of the company.”

For Mittelstaedt, building shareholder value centers on knowing when to listen to markets and when not to. In his view, the problem for some companies is that “you have to look at your overall strategy and determine whether it is a strong long-term strategy and whether you have the fortitude to stand by it for several years into the future, even if your peers are changing their strategies all the time,” he explains.

管理者只关注short-term pops in performance can lose control of their playbook, Mittelstaedt adds. “Companies get too focused on letting the market and investors pick the strategy,” he says. “That’s a function of not being proactive in terms of deciding on the best direction for your company and communicating that to investors effectively. You have to know your business and show your work so performance expectations are aligned across the stakeholders.”

Mittelstaedt的透视，他不仅表达了商业战略，而且通过季度一对投资者会议表示，废物连接在大盖空间中最可靠的表演者之一。该公司的股票于11月11日收于73.92美元，该年增长率超过55％。

Union Pacific’s Fritz and Waste Connections’ Mittelstaedt get at the core of how executive teams rise to the top of the ranking: They play the long game, and they aren’t afraid to be transparent about it.

“Business cycles don’t change month to month,” says Ronald Epstein, a managing director and senior analyst at Bank of America Merrill Lynch who covers aerospace and defense. Lockheed Martin Corp., the Most Honored Company in that category, laid the groundwork for its leading position eight years ago by creating a share buyback and dividend strategy that its peers now copy.

Those benefits to shareholders provide yield during what might be sleepy business cycles. “When you think about the sector, the cycles are decades long,” Epstein notes. “The 737 was developed in the 1960s.” To plan for profitability and investment performance over the long haul, Epstein says, aerospace companies must complement shareholder perks such as buybacks and dividends with growth opportunities like making new parts to keep their aircraft maintained.

最终，公司执行团队的实力可能是评估潜在投资的更可靠的指标之一。在洛克希德马丁和2017年全美执行团队的其他公司，首席执行官专注于强大的当前执行和未来价值创造。

“It’s important to be able to tell investors your story but also to execute on that story,” saysDavid Cote, CEO of industrial conglomerate Honeywell International, the winning chief executive in the Electrical Equipment & Multi-Industry category. Building a future for the company means taking the time to get new products right, but shareholders also want consistent performance.

“例如，霍尼韦尔的氟产物分子花了十年来上市，”Cote解释道。“投资者不会等待追赶的表现。我们不得不在平衡期望的同时继续履行，并逐年提供结果季度。“

The Most Honored Companies will be honored at anawards dinner, taking place on March 7, 2017, at the Mandarin Oriental in New York.