FidFund Management SA Belvédère 121 P.O. Box 67 CH-1264 St-Cergue Tel. +41 22 360 94 00 Fax +41 22 360 94 60 Representation Offices 3, rue du Général-Dufour CH-1204 Geneva Tel. +41 22 809 97 52 Fax +41 22 809 97 01 Dufourstrasse 179 CH-8008 Zurich Tel. +41 44 385 80 17 Fax +41 44 385 80 19	Robert Pennone Member of the board Decision making is his passion. Not that he believes in an infallible technique producing a perfect course of action! Who could believe that feeding a computer with data would suffice to know whether a budget should be reduced or increased by 2.6%? Not even in Brussels can one entertain such an idea. Therefore deliberation is necessary, and this is where Robert's passion for action finds its proper fuel. All kinds of cultural elements must be taken into account when it comes to deliberating about possible scenarios. What will be the future course of economic and political actors? No question is more fascinating. To answer it, arguing back and forth with others, is of vital importance. Decision making, for Robert, means interacting with people and ideas on the basis of the most precise analysis. Not surprisingly, cultural issues always pop up when it comes to discussing the structure of Global Estate Management. Family structures, hierarchies, authority (or the lack of it). Dealing with such issues gives one a taste for history and sociology. Robert is no exception. He has an acute sense of what we call today tectonic changes in human affaires. Why is it that politicians today are so smooth and nice, whereas just a few decades ago citizens were called upon to confront tough issues? Assuming a decision has become a rare commodity in today's world. Not for Robert Pennone himself, who confesses to having some nostalgia for those days when a democratically elected leader firmly took the floor to speak of ethical standards.