Here's a statement of the obvious: The opinions expressed here are those of the participants, not those of the Mutual Fund Observer. We cannot vouch for the accuracy or appropriateness of any of it, though we do encourage civility and good humor.
"“If you were to have faxed me this balance sheet and asked me to guess who it belonged to, I would have guessed, Citadel, Magnetar or even a proprietary trading desk at a bank.” So begins a story by Alexandra Harris of the Medill Journalism school at Northwestern, which, however, does not focus on some exotic product-specialized hedge fund, or some discount window (taxpayer capital) backed prop desk (hedge fund) at a TBTF bank, but instead at the 61% underfunded, $33.7 billion Illinois Teachers Retirement System (TRS)"
I wouldn't put it past Investment Banks to convince endowments and pension funds to buy exotic assets for the sake of "diversification". In fact, I'm so sure of it, any evidence to the contrary I will not even believe.
People managing those assets would be hard pressed to admit they got hoodwinked into buying risky assets and I'm sure Gak Sucks will never say anything either.
You know something JC, loansharking may not be conservative, but look at the payoffs. Given the system, how do we find fault with people who may not have any qualms selling their mother if they can make 17%. This to me says less about what Harvard is doing and more about the society we live in.
@VintageFreak, Very true. Obviously there is big money to be made here. A sector of the population who use these loan sharks are the losers. As mentioned in another thread, the education system does not teach much in the way of finance.
I'm thinking of a person I knew way back who had a gambling problem and at one point used one of these sharks for an advance on his paycheck. He lost in both instances. Luckily he was able to quit gambling but not after some serious losses totaling five figures.
I view investing in "pay-day" loans as similar to tobacco or gaming. Might be more appropriately placed in one of the "sin funds" available to investors.
Comments
ott.ct.gov/pensiondocs/fundperf/FundPerformance063014Revised.pdf
Who am I kidding?
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/has-illinois-teachers-fund-entered-death-spiral-aig-wannabes-go-broke-strategy-fails-pension
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/61-underfunded-illinois-teachers-pension-fund-goes-broke-becomes-next-aig-waiting-selling-bi
"“If you were to have faxed me this balance sheet and asked me to guess who it belonged to, I would have guessed, Citadel, Magnetar or even a proprietary trading desk at a bank.” So begins a story by Alexandra Harris of the Medill Journalism school at Northwestern, which, however, does not focus on some exotic product-specialized hedge fund, or some discount window (taxpayer capital) backed prop desk (hedge fund) at a TBTF bank, but instead at the 61% underfunded, $33.7 billion Illinois Teachers Retirement System (TRS)"
People managing those assets would be hard pressed to admit they got hoodwinked into buying risky assets and I'm sure Gak Sucks will never say anything either.
I'm thinking of a person I knew way back who had a gambling problem and at one point used one of these sharks for an advance on his paycheck. He lost in both instances. Luckily he was able to quit gambling but not after some serious losses totaling five figures.
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/looting-main-street-20100331
I guess "advisors" cannot every be sued for bad advice. Incomptence and crookedness seems to be qualifications needed for the job.