03/19/2007 08:45:00 AM 
CFOs used to get excited about the financial power inherent within the intangible assets of a brand, now a new breed of CEO is looking at brands as cash generating engines, rather than pure brand plays. It's based on a belief that there's more money to be made re-investing the cash in the market, than putting it back into improving the brand or promoting it.
Sears is one of America's best-known retail brands, but its recent retail performance hasn't excited anyone, but its stock has been charging ahead because investors see a different type of Sears emerging.
Eddie Lambert, the 44 year-old who leads the company, appears to be cutting costs and running the Sears brand into the ground.
Lambert's vision for Sears doesn't involve tearing up the retail landscape and bringing the once venerable brand back to life, instead he's turned the company's cash flow and cash reserves into a hedge fund that has seen significant gains.
He's taking radical financial risks with the company's money that no CEO ever would have contemplated even 5 years back.
How long can Lambert neglect the Sears brand before it comes back to haunt him?
The answer is probably, for some time, Sears is currently sitting on $3.3billion of cash reserves, Lambert clearly feels he can gain a better return on that money by investing in the market, rather than investing in the brand.
One can only wonder what Jobs and Gates could achieve if they were as aggressive with their company's cash reserves as Lambert is with Sears.
While Jobs may be a marketing genius, Gates a software guru, Lambert really understands the financial markets, having once been one of the leading earners in the hedge fund business.
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