I think I'd agree to the extent that I don't see them hunting in a gank (which is also the case with Empire). However, I do see most of them waiting until having overwhelming odds to raid, for whatever reason.

On the other hand, the Empire is actually pretty fragmented outside of the hero range, and different sects seem competitive enough that I can't remember ever seeing the current lot work together. The only time they retrieve together is when two sects turn up in the hope that the other sect doesn't know about it (so they can have the glory).

Typically you have a shadow assassin trying to retrieve unnoticed with tiger claw, or a blade doing hit and runs on his own, or a divine whipping up a group of lowbies. Occasionally the twain shall meet, and normally the person that doesn't get the credit for the retrieval is pissed off by it.

All I can say is that I hope imms don't place too much weight on "number of times they took another cabal's item" and "number of times they retrieved" because a lot of that action is heroes raiding unopposed and lowbies retrieving unopposed.