It’s funny how everyone thinks everything is available with the click of mouse or a few strokes on the keyboard. The Internet is the great equalizer of information flow, according to its creator, a former Vice President turned extreme capitalist.
If you believe that, well, I have a bridge or two you might like to buy.
The Internet is responsible for information overload. The reality is that there are a lot of people flying blindfolded in a snowstorm. Why? The lack of information processing power, the lack of transparency and the lack of the discipline to ask questions and search out answers.
A week from now, the HedgeAnswers 2009-2010 Teleconference Series will kick off the first of five call series that are charged with helping information about hedge funds flow to new and existing managers and investors.
Participants will be able to email questions for discussion as well as being able to ask questions during the call. The questions are already coming in at a fast and furious pace. They range from how do I raise assets and how do I operate a fund to who do I call first and what’s the difference between lawyers?
People have asked are lawyers really necessary? Aren’t the documents boilerplate? How come prime brokers won’t talk to me? Is there such a thing as cap-intro? There are questions about fund and company structure, strategy, feeders, administrators, accountants, prime brokers and more.
It’s fascinating to read these questions and next week is when we do our first call: Nov. 17th at 10 a.m.
I look forward to answering all these questions with a couple of colleagues in the industry. Our goal is to provide insight and guidance to those who are either looking to set up a business, to run a business or to operate a more successful business. The call next month on December 15, will be focused on investors.
OK, enough of the shameless self-promotion, but the reason for the comments about information flow and the ability to ask questions is to prove a point that people are in search of answers. With all the technology and information available to us, there is still something that causes many to miss things that are right in front of our face, or screen.
I am fascinated with wondering what people are thinking about the recent election in New Jersey, the situation with health care legislation, the massacre of soldiers by one of their own at Fort Hood and, of course, the state of the national and global economy.
What is Chris Christie thinking as he prepares to take over as governor of the Garden State? What is President Obama thinking now that his health care bill has made it through the House and seems to be trouble in the Senate? And what are his thoughts about having to go to Fort Hood to mourn the loss of life at the hands of an American? What is Ben Bernanke thinking now that Federal Open Markets Committee has met and said that there most likely will not be an interest rate hike until sometime in late 2010? All three men are dealing with massive issues. Some are clearly greater than others, but all are important nonetheless.
The issues of the day are relevant to so many people, yet I don’t see a lot of dialogue from those of us mere mortals.
The idea of HedgeAnswers from its inception was to create a dialogue and provide a forum for the exchange of ideas. One of the biggest issues facing this country today is not the lack of information or the lack of ability to process information, but rather the lack of interest in getting and processing information to make informed, well thought-out decisions.
When we get together next week for the HedgeAnswers call we’re going to be talking about the issues surrounding the hedge fund industry. Yet we will cover local and national issues as well, because each is relevant to the industry as people debate the future of this area of Wall Street.
Before I forget, just so you know, you can even say you heard it here first: Hedge funds are going to exist in one way, shape or form forever. Investors need hedge funds for the simple reason that markets don’t always rise, so investors need to be able to invest in products that can go both long and short. If we’ve learned anything from last year’s volatility, it’s that we need to understand better how to make money when prices fall rather than just how to make money when prices rise.
This is what HedgeAnswers is all about. It’s about exchanging ideas. It’s about learning from each other. It’s about getting information and asking questions and thinking about things in a different way. I hope you will join us. Register by clicking here.
THINGS THAT DRIVE ME CRAZY
Comcast called today to ask me to participate in a customer satisfaction survey. When I told the caller that I believed that Comcast has no interest in customer satisfaction, does not provide adequate training for its employees and seems to care nothing about its customers, she promptly hung up. Need I say more?
ONE MORE THING – THIS DID NOT DRIVE ME CRAZY!
On Sunday, Felice and I took the kids to see the Imagination Movers in New York City. The show was great, the kids liked it immensely, they sang, they danced and bopped to the beat of the music. The Movers worked hard to please the crowd. Not only did they play the favorites from their television program but they made sure that everyone in the place had a chance to say a personal hello. Literally, the front man – Rich took his microphone and walked every inch of theatre meeting and greeting the kids. And the kids loved it. More importantly, no child was left behind regardless of where their seat was located or how much their parents paid for the tickets.