I used to work at Bridgewater and it is not cultish at all. There is a hierarchy of "enforcers" and it does get a little silly at times, but the pendulum has to swing to one extreme before it goes back to the other extreme. With less involvement from Ray today, they are doing it with such a light touch that subversive politics are rearing their head more than before so it will go back the other way at some point. At the core of it, it was about finding out what was true. I didn't carry the iPad ever, and our department was one of the highest rated in "principles". All things said, it was the best professional stint of my life. I really enjoyed working with the people there.
I don't know if that's a positive endorsement of Bridgewater or just a really really sad commentary of the rest of professional life!
Most successful hedge fund is: a) Bunch of losers b) Probably not a bunch of losers, but different than other non-most-successful hedge funds
Is that your opinion or are you angry about another thread and completely twisting what I said into something else entirely so you can be angry about it? Bridgewater is without a doubt successful. As I'm sure you'll agree, success for shareholders/LPs isn't synonymous with success/happiness/enjoyable work experience for rank and file employees, although there is some correlation certainly on the negative side. Success doesn't make the concept of having a hierarchy of "enforcers" any less crazy. Certainly doesn't change the sadness that the rest of corporate america apparently sucks so bad that living under a regime of "enforcers" is someone's best corporate experience!
Uh... your projection is immense. If anyone senses anger in my words, then I would be surprised. In any case, what I personally liked about it was the removal of layers of bullshit. Just say what you want to say about other people's ideas to their face.
It's funny, as I recall from having read Principles you're only remembering/applying half of the equation. It isn't just that you say what you want to say, it's that you listen and apply what you hear, I think the term was getting past your own "ego barrier". Having your part without the second part is just being an asshole.
It was implied. For what it's worth, I sometimes talk with my former co workers about problems I'm trying to solve and vice versa. Quite often, I was told not to withhold my thoughts on a problem for fear of being an asshole.
To close the year, John Stepek picks five of his favourite books on economics, investing and human behaviour. Five of the best books I read in 2018 For the very last Money Morning of 2018, rather than focus on the havoc of the thin trading between Christmas and New Year (we’ll revisit that when everyone’s back at work later this week), I thought I’d run through my books of the year. As was the case last year, this is not a review of books that were published this year (although some of them were). Instead, it’s a list of five of the best non-fiction books I’ve read this year. There are a couple of old classics in there that I’ve only just got round to reading, but I think it’s always worth getting an up-to-date take on yesterday’s bestsellers – in case, like me, you haven’t yet read the entire financial canon. Here goes. Against the Gods The Remarkable Story of Risk by Peter L Bernstein Buy it on Amazon. This is a superb piece of financial history which cuts to the heart of what the entire financial industry is founded on – humanity’s efforts to control and manage risk in ever more effective ways. Bernstein covers a broad sweep of history as he charts the evolution of the science of statistics and probability, ranging from Ancient Greece to the gambling dens of Renaissance Italy to the development in London of ways to measure life expectancy more accurately. Along the way he covers key concepts such as regression to the mean, the uses and abuses of data, and the expansion of derivatives markets. In other hands, that could make for a challenging, if not boring read. Yet the book fairly romps along, thanks to Bernstein’s eye for an anecdote and intriguing historical characters. It’s deservedly a classic, and one I’d wholeheartedly recommend to anyone who hasn’t read it yet. Factfulness Ten Reasons We’re Wrong About the World – and why things are better than you think (2018) by Hans Rosling Published by Sceptre Buy it on Amazon. Despite my frequently bearish views on investing, I’m actually an optimist on human beings generally. So I really enjoyed this book, which attempts to clear up some persistent misconceptions about the state of the world. Put simply, the world is healthier, wealthier, and safer than you think. Statistician Rosling, who died last year, does not attempt to downplay the very real problems the world faces. Rather, he aims to combat misplaced pessimism and knee-jerk thinking in order to ensure that we tackle the right problems in the right ways, and in the right order. This may not sound like a book with direct relevance to investors, but in fact, in pointing out the cognitive errors we make, Rosling’s book makes one of the most important points for any investor to bear in mind – we need to look at the facts as they are, not as we expect or wish them to be. Deep Value Investing Finding bargain shares with big potential (second edition, 2018) by Jeroen Bos Published by Harriman House Buy it on Amazon. You often hear that value investing is dead, particularly these days. Fund manager Jeroen Bos makes it very clear that this is not the case, as he discusses in detail, his methods, victories, and occasional mistakes, in this excellent, inspiring book. Armed with myriad case studies and genuinely useful, practical information, Bos makes it clear that, for all the talk of efficient markets, there are plenty of opportunities for canny investors to spot situations where the odds are skewed in their favour. In short, the investment books I enjoy the most are the ones that make me keen to go and put the ideas into practice myself. This is one of those books. It also has a foreword by my colleague Merryn Somerset Webb, which is a nice bonus. The Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759) by Adam Smith Published by various Buy at Amazon. I read Adam Smith’s less well-known masterpiece in preparation for appearing at Merryn’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival show in August this year. And if you think I’m not going to claim bragging rights for wading through this tome, then you’re a bigger human being than I am. Like most books written in the 1700s, it’s not an easy read. It’s not hard to understand, but the writing style is dense – Smith seems to think that if a sentence has fewer than four separate clauses, it’s a wasted opportunity. But it’s inspiring, and it is also a valuable antidote to the hyper-individualistic caricature often painted of capitalism (particularly since the 1980s). Before he was an economist, Smith was a psychologist. His vision is rooted in a deep understanding that human beings are social animals, and that it is our strong sense of empathy for our fellow beings, that has enabled our species to be as successful as it is. The first line of the book sums it up. “How selfish soever man may be supposed, there are evidently some principles in his nature, which interest him in the fortune of others, and render their happiness necessary to him, though he derides nothing from it except the pleasure of seeing it.” It’s a reminder of how humane Smith was, and it’s entirely compatible with his better-known follow-up. The Theory of Moral Sentimentsmakes it clear that Smith wanted a better life for all people – inThe Wealth of Nations, he looks at how to go about it. And judging by where we are 250 years on, he didn’t do a half-bad job. For context (or if you don’t fancy tackling Smith’s original work), then you should get hold of Jess Norman’s excellent biography,Adam Smith: What he Thought, and Why it Matters. Read the whole of this article on the MoneyWeek website. PS – just before I go, some news – I have a book coming out next year myself. It’s calledThe Sceptical Investor, it’s about contrarian investing, and it’ll be published by Harriman House.
Six of the best books for investors https://moneyweek.com/500044/six-of...letter&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter