Asset Manager

The Financial Industry Sucks (for now...)

2009-04-28T17:54:00.005+02:00

So insanely bored am I of the world of finance that I have not been able to bring myself to write an article here in weeks. I don't know about you but I am so fed up of hearing the opinions of 'experts' on CNBC, in newspapers and on their personal blogs I just didn't want to add to the 'noise'.The fact is that most of these people have been proved to know f*** all to a jam tart about what is

Are The 'Me Too' Websites Democratising the Web?

2009-04-14T18:39:00.004+02:00

We just got back into the office from the Easter holidays and found ourselves languishing in a state of boredom, unmotivated even by the recovery in the general feeling in the market. So we did what any other self respecting person would do and had a look around the web for some videos.There is a financial theme in here, as one of things that we do is invest in small companies, especially

Google Ventures Stalks Start Ups

2009-03-31T17:56:00.003+02:00

Here we go.. total world domination. Google announced on Monday that it is creating a venture fund. 'Google Ventures' is expected to invest up to $100mn over the next twelve months, according to the New York Times. The guy in charge will be David Drummond, investments will be vetted by William Maris and Rich Milner, a co-founder of Android who Google acquired in 2005.The fund is looking at clean

Swiss Under Fire - Is It Wise To Poke The Cuckoo?

2009-03-27T12:19:00.005+01:00

Alastair Darling called the situation a 'mood change' and German Finance Minister, Peer Steinbruck, has defended himself against comments that he is 'Nazi stooge' when Swiss Parliamentarian, Thomas Muller, said Steinbruck reminded him of a "generation of Germans who marched through the streets in leather coats, boots and armbands".I have to say the 'Nazi' slur was a bit strong, but you can

AngelSift - A Winner for Investors?

2009-03-25T17:09:00.006+01:00

I am very fortunate to have been asked to work with a new business angel/business networking site called AngelSift.com. The site is aimed at business angels and sophisticated investors that are looking for investment ideas for, generally, Internet based businesses.Having looked at many sites that offer a similar service the founders of the company saw that some sites charge relatively high fees

Madoff Case - You Have To Read About This Mess-Up

2009-03-23T15:06:00.004+01:00

I have followed the Madoff case with a growning sense of anger at regulators and the very people who should have protected investors. I went to the CNBC site recently for an update and found a section that detailed letters having being submitted from victims who wanted to be heard at the meetings.Now you would have thought that that Department Of Justice, The SEC and everybody else involved would

New Shiny Regulations Lined Up By FSA

2009-03-19T12:05:00.007+01:00

I had to have a chuckle today when I read the statement from the FSA Chairman Lord Turner, when he said "We are not going to fall into the trap that we did in the past of trying to get a minor competitive advantage by making regulation a little lighter than elsewhere. The disadvantages of getting it wrong are hugely bigger"Er.. did I miss something? Lord Turner may believe that regulators have

The Daily Show Slams CNBC

2009-03-13T12:47:00.005+01:00

The media is blamed more and more for deepening the fear of the general public. We mentioned this in an article we wrote in September. We were talking about who was to blame for the whole thing and some of our conclusions were not particularly popular.It seems that Jon Stewart, from The Daily Show, didn't apprecaite a rant along similar lines by Rick Santelli of CNBC. Rick was not pleased at

The Trap Of Globalisation

2009-03-02T17:17:00.004+01:00

I took delivery at the weekend of 'The Trap' by James Goldsmith. I must say it is a fabulous read in these times and a bizarre peak into the mind of a man who saw it all coming.The front page has a description of what is in the book, bearing in mind it was written in 1993, it says;"Rising long-term unemployment, increasing violence, growing poverty in urban slums, environmental deterioration and

Lessons From a Billionaire - Goldsmith's 'The Trap'.

2009-02-20T11:45:00.006+01:00

Have you ever read the book 'The Trap' by Sir James Goldsmith? I read it when it first came out and the follow up 'The Response'. The books are a little hazy in my mind so I have ordered both from Amazon and will be scouring through them for prophetic nuggets relevant to our current times.Goldsmith was as famous for his personal life as well as his business life. His first wife, whom he married

Open Letter From The Banking Establishment To The Taxpayer

2009-02-18T13:09:00.004+01:00

The Naked Capitalism Blog posted a very funny article entitled 'An Open Letter To The Western Banking Establishment' (click the link to read it first).It started:Dear Western banking establishment,I notice that your unauthorised credit facility from international lenders of last resort now totals approximately $10 trillion. As a taxpayer and therefore your largest shareholder I would be grateful

Regulators Catch Alleged Fraudster (Even a Blind Squirrel Gets The Ocassional Nut)

2009-02-18T11:09:00.011+01:00

I am thinking of changing the name of this blog to 'Bang Up The Banker'. Back in 2007 (you remember the good old days, don't you?) we could write articles on the latest deals, stellar performing hedge funds, interesting IPO's etc. Now it seems that the only thing worth talking about is the latest implosion and subsequent arrest of some 'banker' somewhere.Ever heard the saying 'Eventually even a

Gary Ackerman Beats Up The Regulators.. Go Gary!

2009-02-17T15:09:00.004+01:00

I have repeatedly talked about politicians being... well... useless. I do, however, have a new respect for Gary Ackerman. He kills the regulators over the Madoff thing. I have to say he was absolutely right here, and kicked ass. It really was a cock-up of mammoth proportions and the regulators deserve this beating and more. Don't see any remorse here do you? Wasters....

Investors Forced To Give Madoff 'Profits' Back?

2009-02-17T13:10:00.007+01:00

Imagine this scenario; You are an honest fund manager who has returned pretty good profits to your investors and you are just beginning to think that you might scrape through the credit crunch with a fund, happy clients and a future. Then you get a letter from lawyers saying that one of the investments you made, and then withdrew from, wants the profits back.Nightmare right?Looks like this is

UK FX Trader Arrested In Alleged Ponzi Scheme Investigation

2009-02-13T13:06:00.003+01:00

Having graduated from the University of Life with a First Class Honors Degree in Hindsight, I am not averse to having a little bout of 'told you so'. Today we hear of another chap being arrested for alleged dodgy dealings.Our modern day Sun Tzu, Warren Buffet said "It is only when the tide goes out that you can see who has been swimming naked".Like the Emperor in Hans Christian Anderson's 'The

Sorry Is The Hardest Word

2009-02-12T13:13:00.005+01:00

In the spirit of everyone in our industry saying sorry for something or another, you know global meltdown, greed, dodgy lending practices, that sort of thing, I was looking through some old posts written in 'the gold old days' to see what predictions I made that were total and utter... erm rubbish.The one that hit me straight in the chops was my article on Arev the Icelandic private equity firm

A Small Company Begs to Differ With Harvard as Report on Online Child Safety Goes to Print

2009-02-03T14:23:00.015+01:00

One of the areas of investment that we have been very interested in is the online security sector. The reason for this is that we have a healthy suspicion of the web... ironic as this is on a blog, but follow my logic.The web, as a tool, is mind blowing. We have become so used to being able to communicate at the speed of light, to being able to socialise on a world stage all from our laptop like

Billion Dollar English Wreck Found

2009-02-03T12:36:00.004+01:00

As a 'child of Thatcher' I have looked with contempt at the various pathetic excuses for government that have dragged themselves through the House of Commons over the years, but have always seen my homeland as 'God's country'.As if to cement this view further God decides that he will help out our Sceptered Isle in these current times with the discovery of a billion dollars worth of gold under the

House of Lords Sleazefest

2009-02-02T12:27:00.004+01:00

Don't you just love the whole House of Lords scandal? I must admit I had to laugh... a lot. The socialists in New Labour were salivating at the thought of getting into power and socking it to the elitist Lords. "Currupt!" They said, "Undemocratic!" They said. All I can say in response is "What a collosal balls up!".News is that recently enobled peers, mostly Labourites (you know, that Party of

Death Of The Luxury Brands?

2009-01-29T15:07:00.006+01:00

CNN this weekend was showing a program about the rise of 'cheap chic'. It’s basically the death of luxury brands and the ascendency of the discount stores. Of course the glitterati brushed it off as recession worries and all would be back to normal after our current problems, but is this sign of something deeper?I have a confession, before I go on. When I was a young man about the City I was a

From Pin Stripes To Orange Jump Suits

2009-01-14T12:49:00.006+01:00

I took a trip to London yesterday and there were several stark reminders of the current bleak market. Most visual was the 'To Let' signs in the City, I have never seen as many offices up for rent, it was bizzarre. A certain sign that times are not good.The most profound thing I saw, however, was at the airport. I glanced at the cover of Fortune Magazine which had a picture of someone in handcuffs

2009 - The Year of The Regulator?

2009-01-08T12:10:00.003+01:00

Well, as Gordon Gecko would say 'Christmas is over and business is business'. So here we are in 2009 staring down the barrel of a potentially crappy year. Potential landmines are everywhere and our governments are running short of bullets to protect. With interest rates reaching all time lows, zillions of dollars across the world being used to stimulate the economy, I still feel like I want to

Pay It Forward With Links

2008-12-19T14:02:00.004+01:00

I don't know whether you have seen the movie 'Pay It Forward'. Basically it is a movie about a kid who gets given a school project to come up with an idea to change the world. He decides that three acts of kindness to strangers who are told to pay it forward will accelerate by the nature of compounding.It is a sweet movie which has had some affects in real life, such as the 'Pay it forward

Reasons To Be Bullish

2008-12-18T15:04:00.004+01:00

As we approach the end of an annis horribolus for the markets with great big dollops of more to come we find some reason to be bullish for traders in the coming weeks, months and years.1. Gold. OK so it hasn't exactly been on fire recently and it certainly hasn't performed as a safe haven as we'd all expect but is there some upside to come? Citibank seem to think so.The bottom line, according to

Madoff Exposes More Regulatory Failings

2008-12-15T15:02:00.002+01:00

The investigation into the alleged Madoff Ponzi scheme is revealing more well-known names have potential losses with the former NASDAQ chief’s company.RBS, SocGen, a gaggle of Swiss banks and AXA are amongst those who have lost millions in client funds. You can be sure that these companies are hiring some flesh eating lawyers to extract whatever they can from counter parties and directly from the