05 May 2009

What’s in a Name (or an Acronym)?

GFC is in the lexicon. It’s not in mine. I refuse to add to the surplus of investment TLAs in circulation. I refuse because naming induces a dangerously comforting sense that we’ve understood or even controlled that named. Hurricanes sound less malevolent, friendly almost, when called Kylie or Jason. Once named our aches, pains and pathologies are noticeably softened and more readily accepted. We infer that someone, somewhere has identified, studied, and perhaps cured the pathology, an inference consistent with investment folklore that the greatest opportunities occur before an asset class or strategy has been named. How re-assuringly benign and trustworthy are strategies pre-fixed by ‘enhanced’, ‘structured’, ‘protected’, and ‘balanced’? In Germany die Stratacticalstructuredquantamentalenhancedich would surely induce a calming comfort and inspire trust.

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15 April 2009

The third largest fund in the US, the $122 billion New York state pension fund, has recently been embroiled in a tale of greed, fraud, bribery and corruption, with a number of its alternative investment funds allegedly tainted by the wrong-doing of former employees of the state comptroller’s officer, including its former CIO.

In this week’s “Have Your Say” column we ask you to consider the transparency of the investments in this sector, and have your say on how funds can better monitor their investments and the people that manage them.

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