What do you guys think of these clowns?
I’m guessing you’re a fan?
i know the chief equity strategist - smart guy - but he’s an economist, so not much good for forecasts that actually involve…um…the future… as an employee to work for - probably a good firm - family values - reward loyalty - train you well as a client - over-priced crap products - very expensive private client services - access to IPOS is probably the only upside - access to new debt & equity issues is the only thing of interest they offer these days - but you can get that anywhere… so, what’s your angle?
My angle is I worked for these jokers. All be it in private weatlh. You are correct, highly overpriced, considering they dont really add that much value. Yeh you can read some cool reports, but at the end of the day, you arent gonna get more return for all the costs. But in saying this, i probably feel this way about most private wealth departments.
from what I’ve seen, all private wealth outfits are the same. Sell over-priced structured products you wouldn’t touch with a barge-pole. Anybody with half a brain could do better themselves. They suit the old european “walk the dog”- style private banking - only suits clients who’s dad gave them money. They don’t really care as long as they get their monthly cash to do lines of coke. But if you work in an operation like this - there is plenty of money to cream off the top. Stick with it - it’s pretty recession-proof because most clients don’t know any better - they wouldn’t know what day of the week it is.
agreed. most of the clients were oldies with little idea what was going on. But i reckon when they were seeing 30 or 40% losses they would have lsot it. I have left since then, so dont know. I know a lot of clients were leaving the service as I left
what / where do you work nuller?
work? Life’s too short to work! I just fiddle around in a few things - run some funds of my own - long-term long only fund, trading fund, VC, foundation. I’m lazy really - like Buffett says - “good investing takes laziness bordering on sloth” - so I’m very lazy + I advise some funds - mainly big picture macro themes & stuff like that. Made half my money in real estate, the other half in equities - pure luck really. Life’s short - then you die - so have fun while you can. Working for other people is just crazy! You kill yourself to make somebody else rich - why bother?
Long term long only, trading, vc, foundation … Sounds like a bit like Bennelong
null&nuller Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > work? > Life’s too short to work! > I just fiddle around in a few things - run some > funds of my own - long-term long only fund, > trading fund, VC, foundation. I’m lazy really - > like Buffett says - “good investing takes laziness > bordering on sloth” - so I’m very lazy > > + I advise some funds - mainly big picture macro > themes & stuff like that. > Made half my money in real estate, the other half > in equities - pure luck really. > > Life’s short - then you die - so have fun while > you can. Working for other people is just crazy! > You kill yourself to make somebody else rich - why > bother? Are you not the dude who owned Kaplan?
no, that’s just my own funds. + i advise some other serious funds.
JOE2010 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Are you not the dude who owned Kaplan? no, but close - i was a founder of a business we sold to Kaplan a few years ago. Was a VC play.
Was that the Austrlaian financial planning thing that was sold to kaplan or something like that?? But I agree null, i dont wanna work for the man, but I have to. Not able to make it on my own, maybe im too dummb or somehting liket hat
kaplan has bought lots of things recently + washington post (who owns it). The thing we sold to them had nothing to do with CFA training, by the way. + making money is not about having brains. It’s about having an idea, backing yourself, making mistakes, learning from them, and doing it again until something works. This is a brilliant time in all sorts of markets - fear is everywhere - there are super-cheap assets all over the place. Market inefficiency at its best. The only question is where to focus. so pick an area you enjoy and start seeing what opportunities you can exploit. Working for a firm is fine as long as you view it as just training for the main game - which is getting out there and doing it for yourself. good luck with it all…
null&nuller Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > + making money is not about having brains. It’s > about having an idea, backing yourself, making > mistakes, learning from them, and doing it again > until something works. > This is a brilliant time in all sorts of markets - > fear is everywhere - there are super-cheap assets > all over the place. Market inefficiency at its > best. The only question is where to focus. Brains don’t hurt though, especially depending on what area interests you. Sort of like “Pain don’t hurt” - from Roadhouse.
yep thats kind of how i view it. Definately learning a lot. Just hope I dont get laid off so i can continue to learn more!
maybe another multibagger aka: FMG would be nice! maddane, hows it going over there?
alls going well robb. Except its really slow here with work. Not much for me to do. So getting worried about a possible lay off. Love the job and palce, so would be a massive shame and an even bigger career setback
I have some interaction with JB Were institutional and I’ve always had good experiences with them. I can understand what you’re saying about the private wealth division charging high fees to grannies and charities etc. This is not JBWere specific though. Those fees simply pay the wages in most brokerages and asset management firms so it’s hard to be too critical of the system while still happily accepting a pay cheque every month. Besides, while you might find the idea of someone taking 1.5% of your assets in fees every year to put your money in what might amount to an index fund abhorrent, for the nervous grannies of this world there is some value is getting some reassuring few words from a well-spoken man in a nice suit a few times a year. They get peace of mind that someone else who looks trustworthy is managing their money and they can get on with enjoying life. What was the corporate culture like in JBWere incidentally? Did people get on well with each other or were they trying to climb over each other to get ahead? Did people in senior positions treat junior staff with respect?
My main dealings was through a FI guy who has since left but I had no complaints about the service provided. I’d be quite content to work there though I don’t know anything regarding the workplace environment.