13 Comments
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Paul Goldman's avatar

Well said. (FWIW, I was a long-time member of the staff of the SEC's Division of Investment Management.)

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Kevin Sprague's avatar

Ouch. Real. Thanks Dave.

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Joanne Hill's avatar

Brilliant analogy and the concepts apply so well to what is happening politically, and to the financial service industry - also health care. Yes, ETFs used to be White Hat- even the leveraged and inverse variety as you showed with your ad comparison. Derivatives always have been plagued by bad player damage (and I have the war wounds to show for it.), but ETFs were clean. Not so much anymore and this makes our job as strategists and educators harder and more necessary. I call it the Wild West - which comes with those black and white cowboy hats. “Who shot the sheriff?”

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Dave Nadig's avatar

Who shot the sherriff indeed!

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George Aliferis, CAIA's avatar

Powerful. This really made me think.

Instead of white/black I wonder if we shouldn't think more in terms of fox and hedgehog (my ref here is On Grand Strategy - Gaddis)

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Dave Nadig's avatar

Have a followup coming in a few hours which addresses the mindset part of this (which is very much "fox vs Hedgehog" or really McGilchristian Right/Left brain awareness types. Thanks!

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George Aliferis, CAIA's avatar

Yes! I look forward to it

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Erik Scheier's avatar

Drama much? What a bunch of myopic drivel.

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SomeUserName's avatar

"As we gut social safety nets and re-localize services,"

Government is never ever cut. When they say they are going to cut something, what they mean is that the rate of increase will slow. Govt never cuts anything.

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No Hot Takes's avatar

1) Any critical analysis of US business dealings outside the US would show that current corporate behavior within American borders has already been done outside the USA. They're taking their behavior home for a change.

2) Do you have a time in which this mindset changed from being ostensibly pro-client to being parasitic?

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Mark Phillips's avatar

I enjoyed the White/Black hat perspective on derivatives products. There are absolutely well intentioned products out there, but there's also a lot that is just a marketing facade and delivers something completely different.

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Data Generalist's avatar

This theme can be found in other applications as well. Without the CFPB, it's hard to trust any financial institution. Credit unions might rise in popularity.

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