The One Thing You Must Know About Walt Disney

I know it sounds ludicrous, but investors often overlook the people in charge of protecting their investments. The idea of gauging a company's leadership plays second-fiddle to other categories of analysis. However, at Fool.com we believe careful study of effective leadership is one of the most important areas of evaluating long-term winning investments.

We like CEOs who actually work for shareholders like us. After all, we're the true owners of the business. When you're deciding whether to invest in a company, failing to vet its CEO is a big mistake. In fact, if you've overlooked the study of a company's leadership, then that's the one important area you should know about before finalizing your investment in the company.

After reviewing thousands of companies over dozens of years, we've found several crucial characteristics of quality management. Today, we'll size up the recent performance of Walt Disney's (NYSE: DIS) leadership.

How much skin do they have in the game?
Are Walt Disney CEO Robert Iger's interests aligned with shareholders? Here's how the Walt Disney CEO's ownership compares to that of other companies in the industry.

Source: Capital IQ, a division of Standard & Poor's. Shares are common stock equivalents only and do not include options, awards, and other forms of compensation.

Iger actually owns $29 million worth of Walt Disney, or 0.05% of shares outstanding. We Fools prefer CEOs who have higher ownership stakes in their businesses, since that better aligns their interests with shareholders'. However, while we think high insider ownership is a good sign, low insider ownership isn't necessarily a bad one. CEOs may be relatively new, or may have a low percent of shares outstanding, but a high total value of ownership.

How well are they using your money?
Return on equity can help investors determine how adeptly management gets the job done. This metric combines how well management is expanding profitability, managing assets, and using financial leverage, all in one ratio. While return on equity isn't foolproof -- managers can manipulate it with excessive leverage, for example -- it does an excellent job of suggesting how effective managers are, and how well they can generate high returns on investors' capital.

Here's a look at Walt Disney's recent return on equity:

Walt Disney's current return on equity falls below its five-year average. While recent economic conditions have been challenging, declining return on equity shows either that management hasn't been able to control costs and manage assets, or that it's failed to move into higher-return businesses over the last five years. After seeing margins peak in 2007, the company has seen net income slide, which has contributed to the declining return on equity. One of Disney's strengths is leveraging its strong brands into new areas such as cruises and hotels. Because of this brand strength, management has several opportunities to find new high-value fields it can move in to.

How productive are their workers?
Revenue per employee provides another way to gauge a CEO's effectiveness. If this metric is declining, the company might have a bloated organizational structure, or too many extra employees toiling away at new initiatives that just aren't working out. Either possibility would hint that management isn't effectively running the organization.

Source: Capital IQ, a division of Standard & Poor's.

As you can see, Walt Disney's revenue per employee has moved above its five-year average. Rising revenue per employee can suggest that management's getting better at controlling costs, or encouraging more productivity from its workers. To better see whether Walt Disney's management is excelling in this area, let's compare the company to its peer group once again:

Source: Capital IQ, a division of Standard & Poor's. Dollar figures in thousands.

Walt Disney's been slightly growing its revenue per employee, but the growth still lags its peer-group average.

In the end, management aims to return capital to shareholders, especially if the company can't adequately find new high-growth areas to invest in. So we're pleased to see that:

• Dividends have increased by 7.8% annually. The company's current dividend yield stands at 1.1%.
• Its outstanding share count has dropped over the past five years. While CEOs are often tempted to retain key talent through lavish stock option awards, this tactic can dilute current shareholders if it's used excessively. If the company's stock isn't overvalued, buying back its own shares is a very tax-effective way to return capital to shareholders.

These are just a few of the factors we look for in a company's management. If you can find leaders who continually give shareholders high returns on their capital, and align their interests with yours, you've got a better chance to enjoy market-beating returns for the long haul.