You’ve read my series You Invest, They Win. In a wonderful op-ed in the Weekend WSJ was “The Joy and Wisdom of Simplicity,” by Fay Vincent: The other day I found someone citing Henry David Thoreau’s advice from “Walden”: “Simplify, simplify.” I began to think of some seemingly simple yet unusual statements I had encountered. I once asked the late Las Vegas tycoon Kirk Kerkorian if he was troubled by the enormous debt he ran up to finance his corporate takeovers. He was then trying to gain control of Columbia Pictures Industries, where I was CEO. His simple answer stunned me. “Look, that … [Read more...]
You Invest, They Win
The Big Winners When You Faithfully Give to a Cause (Retirement)
If you didn’t read about the massive fund controlled by the Mormon Church, you will. With 16,000 plus members tithing 10% of their earnings, the fund has amassed a $100 billion fortune—a cash-generating behemoth that would make Warren Buffett blush. Roger Clarke, the head of the investment fund Ensign Peak that controls the church’s money, used to be a professor at Brigham Young University, reports Ian Lovett and Rachael Levy for the WSJ. He was running an investment firm in Los Angeles when he got the call. “It certainly wasn’t the most attractive financial office,” Mr. Clarke said. “But … [Read more...]
When the Rules Apply to You but Not to Them
Justin Baer reports at The Wall Street Journal that the giant bond investing firm, Pacific Investment Management Co. (Pimco), "was aware employees had used the services of the firm founded by the figure at the center of a sweeping college-admissions scandal but it had “no information” suggesting these workers acted improperly." He writes: Douglas Hodge, a longtime Pimco executive who served as its CEO until 2016, was one of 33 wealthy parents accused this week of paying for bogus entrance-exam scores or fake athletic achievements to get their children admitted into competitive … [Read more...]
You Invest, They Win: Ray Dalio Lives his “Best Life” on Your Fees
The founder of the largest hedge fund in the universe, Ray Dalio, tweeted this from Burning Man: Just back from Burning Man. Reminds me of Woodstock with better art (installations) and less good music. What a great vibe and what amazing creativity! Photo is with my pal and coworker Jeff Taylor at his great music camp Root Society. If you go next year, 1-5am is best. Are these the guys you want running your money? You invest, they win. But hey, it’s not about the money. It’s about saving the planet man. Because if it’s about the money (Dalio has a personal net worth of $19 billion) then … [Read more...]
Alaskan Native Sees Right Through Goldman Sachs’ Righteous PR Stunt
In The Wall Street Journal, Mayor Harry Brower Jr., an Alaskan Native, calls out Goldman Sachs for the firm's recent PR announcement that it will no longer finance new oil projects in the Arctic. Brower pierces right through Goldman's argument that it is helping indigenous peoples with "stakeholder engagement." Brower is the mayor of the North Slope borough, a massive land area populated by many Alaskan natives, including Mr. Brower. Goldman, like BlackRock, is virtue signaling to its favored constituency, wealthy investors living in the elite enclaves of New York and San Francisco. Neither … [Read more...]
You May Not Be Able to Trust the World’s Largest Asset Manager
Be careful who you let run your money because they might have their best interests in mind, not yours. Despite his fiduciary duty to clients, Larry Fink, CEO of BlackRock, is focusing the company's efforts on achieving his own social goals, rather than on profits for investors. The Wall Street Journal reports: BlackRock is a fiduciary and as such is legally obligated to act in its clients’ best interest. This is ostensibly why BlackRock has voted against more than 80% of the climate resolutions on proxy ballots by activist shareholders. But suddenly Mr. Fink is prioritizing the interests of … [Read more...]
New Update! Ken Fisher Won’t Take No for an Answer
“We ended ours a long time ago. It was a disaster from day 1,” a reader wrote to me recently. Then there’s this: “The hard-selling was relentless, even infuriating, prospective customers said,” explains Janet Lorin at Bloomberg. “Marketers called homes, spammed work email and impersonated friends, colleagues, and government officials.” The Bloomberg article continues: “CALLS REPEAT EVERY DAY. I SUBMIT A COMPLAINT EVERY DAY. NO CORRECTIVE ACTION TAKEN. WHAT CAN I DO???????????????????,” a resident from Waterford, Pennsylvania, wrote in a July 2016 email. Would-be clients were … [Read more...]
Fidelity Ends its $500M Relationship with Ken Fisher
Darla Mercado reports at CNBC: Fidelity has terminated a $500 million relationship with Fisher Investments, bringing the total yanked from the money manager to almost $1.8 billion. Officials at the giant Boston-based asset manager confirmed it would end its relationship with Fisher on Monday, in light of inappropriate comments founder Ken Fisher made at an investment conference on Oct. 8. Fisher managed $500 million in assets for Fidelity’s Strategic Advisers Small-Mid Cap Fund. “Fisher Investments does not provide investment advisory services for any portion of the assets of … [Read more...]
Boston Pulls $248 Million from Fisher Investments
The city of Boston's pension board will join Philadelphia and the state of Michigan in divesting from Fisher Investments reports Bloomberg's Janet Lorin, writing: “Boston will not invest in companies led by people who treat women like commodities,” Mayor Martin Walsh said in a statement Wednesday. “Reports of Ken Fisher’s comments and poor judgment are incredibly disturbing.” The city’s pension board will pull $248 million. Fisher Investments is seeing a growing backlash since the firm’s founder made offensive comments about women, spoke of genitalia and then failed to immediately … [Read more...]
Ken Fisher Apologizes for Remarks at Tiburon CEO Summit
Ken Fisher has apologized for his offensive comments after recently coming under fire for his speech at the Tiburon CEO Summit. Financial advisor Alex Chalekian who heard the speech was the first to complain publicly via the Twitter video below. I'm truly disgusted. pic.twitter.com/SKb3dYLV5h — Alex Chalekian (@AlexChalekian) October 9, 2019 And here, reported by Bloomberg News is Fisher's response: "Some of the words and phrases I used during a recent conference to make certain points were clearly wrong and I shouldn't have made them," Mr. Fisher said Thursday in a statement. "I … [Read more...]