“We know that about investing with John Paulson. He makes macroeconomic calls,” says Joelle Mevi, the chief investment officer of the New Mexico PERA [which piled into the fund after 2007 and has since liquidated its holdings]. But “we started to notice a consistent underperformance of the fund, and we were noticing a bit of style drift” — investor-speak for getting into areas outside one’s expertise. And, Mevi says, “The Sino-Forest issue was notable.” “If you’re going to come in and then leave, come in and leave, I don’t think you’ll reap the benefits of investing with us,” Paulson says. “Investors that do the best, and have done the best, are those that stay and compound at above-average rates over the long term.” [Bloomberg Markets, earlier]
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Hedge Funds
Paulson And Co Not Shedding Any Tears Over Investors Who Don’t Know What’s Good For Them
By Bess LevinComments (30)
- Use the Bloomberg command
NH BLG_DEALBREAKER <GO>
to access Dealbreaker -
You know what they say: You can’t choose your family, but you can choose your financial planner. Or something like that. One of the great things of being in charge of your money is choosing who (if anyone) will help you manage it. The choice isn’t always an easy one. How will you know that your planner is reputable and trustworthy?
These five red flags may be good indications of whether the financial planner sitting across from you is someone you should trust with your money. LearnVest Planning also provides an innovative 7-step program for your money where you work one-on-one with a financial planner. To see if this program is right for you, start with a free financial consultation.
1. She Isn’t Certified
“There are a lot of good planners out there who aren’t Certified Financial Panners™,” says Samantha Vient, CFP®, of LearnVest Planning Services. “However, CFPs® are required to adhere to the CFP® Board’s standards of professional conduct.We believe it’s always a good idea to work with someone who has the CFP® designation, which is issued after completing a CFP® Board-approved personal financial planning curriculum, passing a rigorous exam issued by the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, meeting experience requirements and passing an ethics and background check.
2. He Offers to Manage Your Money for “Free”
Financial planners are usually paid in one of two ways: Either through fee-only, which can be a set fee, hourly, retainer or a percentage of the assets they manage for you, or through commission, which means the planner is paid each time he buys or sells an investment.Fee-only payment structures can be more desirable to some clients, as there’s no financial incentive based on assets under management for a planner to buy or sell, whereas working on commission encourages planners to make trades, rather than solely look out for your best interest—called a “fiduciary” duty. (You want to be sure that the planner you choose is a fiduciary.)
LearnVest Planning Services provides the services of fee-only Certified Financial Planners™. Get started for free with a 15-minute financial consultation.
3. She Says She Outperforms the Market
“If a financial planner tells you that she can outperform the market, that’s a major red flag,” Vient explains. “In fact, due to government regulations, it’s illegal to advertise statements that promise a specific return.”Outperforming the market—that is, getting better investment returns than the market average—is extremely difficult to do consistently, and requires taking a lot of risks with your investments. It’s rare to find a financial planner who can consistently outperform the market—and results are never guaranteed. Either way, in the pursuit of these high returns, she’ll be exposing your investments to much higher risk than you may be comfortable with.
Instead, look for a CFP® who, when looking at your portfolio, can advise on proper asset allocation based on your risk tolerance and time horizon, as well as through economic ups and downs.
4. She Doesn’t Ask About Your Financial Goals
“Your planner isn’t just there to crunch the numbers,” Vient advises. “She’s helping you make a plan for your money and your life. You should be looking for someone who has similar values to you.”Ideally, you’ll likely want to work with someone who is in a similar life stage. Are you a parent? A planner with children may be better able to understand your need to save for college. Does your CFP® have a specialty? Some planners have an area of expertise, like insurance, estate planning, divorce or retirement—a fact you might want to consider if that’s a particular need of yours.
When meeting a potential planner, remember that you’re allowed to ask questions about their experience and priorities: “Do you think it’s more important to save for retirement or pay off debt? How do you feel about supporting kids through college? How do you mitigate investment risk as your clients get older?”
The choices you make with your money are intensely personal. The person who helps you make these choices should be able to understand and accept your financial priorities, and help you use your money to meet them.
5. His Management Style Makes You Uncomfortable
Financial planners can manage your money for you or manage your money with you. As different people have different needs when it comes to money management, there is no right way to work with a planner—it’s up to you to decide how hands-on you want him to be.
When you sign on with a financial planner, there will be a written agreement of how the two of you will manage your money. Read this carefully, and ask questions if you’re unsure about anything. Are you signing your accounts over to this planner? Will he check in with you before making a trade, or when rebalancing your accounts? If you’re uncomfortable with anything in the agreement, bring it up immediately.Learn more about LearnVest Planning and our financial planners by visiting learnvest.com. To book your free consultation today, email FA_Support@learnvest.com or complete your request online.
LearnVest Planning Services is a registered investment adviser. The opinions expressed in this article are that of LearnVest Planning Services, a registered investment adviser. The advice provided may not be suitable for your individual situation and you should discuss your situation with a financial professional.
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Sponsored Content
SoFi Answers the Call to Refinance Student Loans and Provides Unique Community Benefits
This is a guest post written by SoFi’s CEO, Mike Cagney.
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Recently, there’s been a lot of talk amongst leaders in Washington about how to improve the painful process of repaying student loans. At SoFi, we feel your pain and work hard to offer more flexible, more affordable options for our borrowers. One idea that’s getting a lot of attention is increasing the options for refinancing debt after graduation. The only lender currently focused on refinancing private and federal student loans is SoFi.
We recognized early on that borrowers who have made timely payments on their loans, graduated from school, and have a job should be able to refinance their student loans at a lower interest rate. This may be why, after resuming lending by invitation, the media became increasingly interested in what we are doing.
In a recent article posted on MainStreet.com SoFi General Counsel Rob Lavet had this to say about SoFi’s ReFi products:
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Journalists from the USA TODAY, The Chronicle for Higher Education, the American Banker among others, also found themselves reporting on how SoFi is “using social communities and offering refinancing of student loans.“ It is this social community aspect that makes refinancing with SoFi so valuable. By connecting borrowers with a community literally invested in their success, the benefits of a SoFi loan go beyond saving money.
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"Style drift" = "losing money"
- Hedge fund dictionary quant
“Investors that do the best, and have done the best, are those that come in right before this one huge ass lucky call we made, then take their money and run before we go back to our long term track of underperformance.”
i flipped "heads" 20 times in a row once too
Til the night closes in…
“Investors that do the best, and have done the best, are those able to see the forest for the trees–those who stay and compound at above-average rates over the long term.”
When to pull out is a very underestimated skill!
-A Cromartie
Investment rule #8: Style drift is never an issue when you're killing it.
No one goes to gamblers anonymous when they're winning, they're not addicted, they're rich. No one is accused of style drift when they are making money, they're called successful. But start losing money, NOW you're drifting.
What forest?
Please define "killing it?"
"…those who stay and get pounded at above-average rates over the long term."
Mr. Paulson – Can you please elaborate on the positive effects of compounding negative returns?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Swatch-Irony-UBS-Limited-…
http://dealbreaker.com/2012/06/do-you-let-your-wa…
-52% is the new 30.
John – this is how you do an interview…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bj1DZKOeZhI
The body language in that picture is the perfect answer to anyone asking about returns, money, etc.
Massively leveraged macro bets? Interesting…
-Jon C.
Ohh yes, the Enron complex of the stock soaring higher and higher and then, dropping to 0.
come in and leave = in & out
what's not to like?
“We’ve gone back to our traditional strategy, which is operating with smaller amounts of net exposure, and hedges in the portfolio.”
Sino-Forest
When I showed up to the festivities surrounding my being the "Nymex Man of the Year" I had a
large entourage and a cocksure gait. Nothing but respect from the gathered admirers.
+1 for your name hahaha
That was congress asking him to explain 2008
+1 for your name
I am glad you asked that question. From any point all you can lose is a 100%. But, you can make many multiples of 100% ! capice ?
I get so many DMs daily that I won’t be able to be bothered with them now. I’m sure I need to miss people today who genuinely want to speak, but it’s totally ridiculous now!
cXboQn Thanks so much for the article post.Much thanks again. Much obliged.
It is a 1930 Chrysler 77