It is a big change when you work within the institution vs you work for yourself. You have to change the style of your trading and a series of pain adjustment.
That pain adjustment includes losing hundreds of millions for your clients? Or abusing the reputation you earned at your previous job to get elected into politics and then just sit there and do nothing? Both in my books constitutes a clear betrayal on the people who entrusted you with a lot, in one case money in another a vote to be their CIVIL SERVANT. I do not know wtf American politicians think but in the country I come from being politician means being a civil servant without much pay and especially with an extremely thick skin to keep lobbyists as far away as possible. In the US apparently being politician means for more than half of them either being Jewish (despite just a fraction of Jews in the American population) and/or coming straight from Goldman or being "friendly" with Goldman. Please explain if you disagree that this is not a direct result of a skewed election process where your race and Jewish affiliation counts for almost everything.
Guys like Corzine don't run hedgefunds like that. They use their managerial skills and relationships to build a sustaining firm. Presumably he knows a lot of wealthy and institutional investors. He also should know some very capable PMs and CIOs. This is what Vikram pandit and bill winters did. They weren't trading spus. They built decent asset management businesses that became worth hundreds of millions. Given his knowledge, experience, and Rolodex, it's also interesting that no private equity shop has picked him up. His career is clearly finished and he is on the same rung of the ladder as most ETers, except he fell from the top.
Wow, a most excellent comparison. All of them have one thing in common. A criminal like energy to betray those who entrusted them with a lot And in some cases to choose the straight illegal route
I heard bill winters was a straight shooter. Political, probably. But you know what Wall Street is like. I heard some crazy stories about pandit. I never met any of the three, so I can only go by guys who I know did work for them directly.
Lol, to me most of the politicians are no different from Actors, the main purpose is to make a living (good living), which country you are from?
The problem is your access to the top fund managers and information is greatly reduced when you no longer in the firm.
Germany, and what you said definitely does not apply to Germany. Ex presidents or prime ministers do not tour the world to give highly paid speeches or "consult" with hedge funds or what have you. I think only one exception comes to mind ex Chancellor Schroeder but even his engagement almost pales in comparison to how Tony Blair, and most ex American presidents whore themselves out. Oh right, its called "monetizing their skills and experience", I am sorry. But seriously, most every German politician is neither wealthy, connected to lobbyists directly or indirectly, engages in excessive campaign financing (campaign financing is very strictly regulated in Germany), and those politicians that "stumbled" and were forced out of office had to do so as a result of almost cute affairs such as spending a holiday free of charge at a friend's place who happened to be a wealthy business man. I think most presidents or chancellors in Germany are either incredibly well educated, wise, or chosen for similar character traits and that they display a sincere character to wanting to serve as civil servants is almost always on the top of every voter's priority list. I am aware things in the US are "slightly" different but what really baffles me is the incredible disconnect between Washington and the rest of the country and especially the disconnect between Congress Men/Women as well as Senators and their constituents. I find it hard to escape the impression that Congress Men/Senators are not holding themselves accountable to their voters but to their donors (aka lobbyists, or more directly those who pay bribes and corrupt the political system). That the American public does nothing about that only seems to be explainable by the fatigue and outright laziness of most in the population.
Thanks for sharing. I know a german in my ex firm previously (derivative group), he did mentioned to me that German has stricted rule on politicians, indeed he even joke that Germany has more law than his own people. The only reason he came to America is to look for opportunity, he can't make much if he have to pay more than 50 % tax in Germany. He mentioned US is a land of opportunity if you know how to make use of it. The summary here is you have to balance the regulations so that you create the balance and not overkill any opportunity for the people. After my early "retirement", i did tour around world (and trade time to time, it is hard to abandon trading, lol). I had spend 6 months in Germany (munich and berlin), those are lovely place, except the winter there which is similar to ny. Lol
I am afraid what Tony Blair and ex-US Presidents are doing is soon going to be the norm not only for Germans but all celebrity politicians around the World. Angela Merkel is the first German chancellor that has been media darling since Willy Brandt, I wouldn't be surprised if she goes on the tour after her term.