Yes, a joke. But, I don't like Ohio cashing the check if there are profits, but suing to recover if there are loses. "Heads I win, tails you lose." Ohio should take some responsibility, starting with firing the committee/consultant/etc. that hired MDL.
mark lay was also on the radio at least once a week as I drove into my trading office. I remember him always being very adamant about his market calls. And then revising what he was saying frequently. Hiis advice was frequently wrong. occasionally his performance was brought up and it was always substandard. I remember wondering who would actually place money with him.
What's more of a Joke is the culture of corruption. The committee/consultant/etc probably does'nt exist as these deals are made on a "you scratch my back I scratch your back" basis.
Such is the price of hubris. Would you like some mayonnaise with that Crow Mr. Lay? Moral, never let a guy named Lay run money. We're 0-2.
Okay, stuff like this really pisses me off. Just for the record I am a minority and do not possess racist views. But what are the chances that Mark Lay won the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation contract because he is black? Additionally, he controls partial assets of the NBA and various gov organizations. Lets just assume for a minute that he won these contracts over a more experienced company because the NBA, etc liked his image (ivy educated black man.) However, they ignored the fact that he consistently underperformed his peers for YEARS. I don't know if he is so much to blame as his clients are. NOW THEY WANT TO SUE?!!! There should never be preferential treatment due to race when it comes to money. Somebody screwed up.. and it wasn't Mark Lay.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05160/518267.stm ... In Ohio, eyebrows were raised by the fact that MDL Capital's chief compliance officer is Mildred O. Forbes, daughter of Cleveland NAACP President George Forbes. The elder Forbes is also a member of the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation oversight board. George Forbes said yesterday he will step down. In Pennsylvania, MDL Capital manages about $91 million in U.S. bonds for the State Employment Retirement System, one of 13 managers overseeing $4 billion in fixed-income investments. Last year, House Democratic Leader William DeWeese of Greene County named Lay to the state's new Commonwealth Financing Authority, which administers a $1 billion fund that finances state economic stimulus programs. Lay "is nonpareil in his knowledge of the financial management world," DeWeese said at the time. The Retirement Board of Allegheny County hasn't found that to be the case. MDL is the poorest performing of the four bond fund managers the pension plan uses. Over the three years ended March 31, the $22.2 million the firm manages for the county retirement plan has earned 2.8 percent compared with the 5 percent to 6 percent returns earned by comparable investment funds . The MDL Broad Market Fixed Income Fund has under-performed bond market indexes for 13 consecutive quarters. One investment service ranks it 501st over the last five years out of 549 funds in its category. The firm's $2.8 billion in assets under management has fallen by about 30 percent since the ribbon-cutting gala at headquarters two years ago. And it is well shy of the $12 billion to $15 billion Lay then boasted he expected to be managing by 2006.
Funny you are the first to bring up race as a "nonracist." Anyway, if you are even slightly familiar with the industry you would know it's not about performance, it's about the sales pitch. As former rep of very poor performing family of funds, I would have you rushing money into Lay's funds tomorrow. Screwed up but true. Close your eyes, click your heels three times and say,"It's not about performance, it's about fees."
I am a little confused. So you are saying that the reason why Lay got these contracts had nothing to do with race? Instead he offered lower fees than his peers? I probably am misunderstanding what you are saying. But the sales pitch was probably heavy towards an up and coming minority versus fees. His performance was so bad, yet Gov agencies, the NBA, and the Ohio Comp Boards couldn't get in fast enough. Just doesn't add up to me. As far as being a racist, trust me, I am a minority and not a racist. I just don't feel like people who may represent large groups of people decide financial futures on the basis of race or, as you suggested, fees. He was probably the worst performer out of ANY manager for a number of years! The point is that these companies should have no right to sue. In fact, if I was part of the Ohio Comp, I would sue them. They made horrible decisions (I feel based solely on race) and now they are trying to cover it up.