Twitter Wisdom
January 24, 2014 Leave a comment
Wealth Addiction
January 22, 2014 Leave a comment
Now if you are wondering what the heck this term means,just read the quote below:
The term was coined by Philip Slater and is the title of his book dating from the 1980s. Should you wish to read it,you can get a copy here:Link.I can’t say I endorse all his arguments but the book will give your brains a workout and get you to see things from interesting angles.
In my last year on Wall Street my bonus was $3.6 million — and I was angry because it wasn’t big enough. I was 30 years old, had no children to raise, no debts to pay, no philanthropic goal in mind. I wanted more money for exactly the same reason an alcoholic needs another drink: I was addicted.
After graduation, I got a job at Bank of America, by the grace of a managing director willing to take a chance on a kid who had called him every day for three weeks.
The end of my first year I was thrilled to receive a $40,000 bonus. For the first time in my life, I didn’t have to check my balance before I withdrew money. But a week later, a trader who was only four years my senior got hired away by CSFB for $900,000. After my initial envious shock –his haul was 22 times the size of my bonus — I grew excited at how much money was available. Read more of this post
The Value Of A Simple Degree
January 21, 2014 Leave a comment
Middle class Indians have a thing for Medical and Engineering degrees.Both are undoubtedly fine pursuits but the limited number of seats in good colleges means that a lot of aspirants or more particularly their parents, have to settle for lesser colleges often without the requisite faculty and infrastructure.Under these circumstances,why not consider other courses?
A simple degree from a decent college might still get you a job in the sector and company of your choice.Also as these courses are less demanding,you could find the time to explore the world more,get some work and life experience,network and maybe even build a business on the side…….Overall there is no reason to believe you will be a loser in the game of life.
Pawn Shops For The Rich
January 21, 2014 Leave a comment
The Suttons & Robertsons showrooms look like those of any high-end retailer or auction house: necklaces glittering with diamonds and emeralds fill the display cases, and sterling silver knives, forks and spoons sit on wooden tables fit for a monarch. In the private room in back are bigger, shinier versions of the jewels out front. High on a wall is a coat of arms bearing the likenesses of two lions, with the date of the company’s founding underneath: 1770. Only on closer inspection does it become clear that between the lions are three balls dangling from a hook: the international symbol for a pawnbroker.
This English company focuses on the blue-chip, wealthy crowd. With almost 250 years of experience in the exclusive world of high-end pawn, Suttons & Robertsons has now gone to the US to fill what it believes is a growing need among wealthy Americans who have spent beyond their means and need a quick — and quiet — infusion of cash in exchange for a few baubles they are willing, at least temporarily, to live without.They have the capital to lend up to and beyond $1 million. Read more of this post
The Privileges Of PE Investors
January 19, 2014 2 Comments
Imagine an initial public offering of shares from company,promising an average 15% return after five years of listing if the market returns are not higher. The question that will arise is whether it is an equity issue or a bond issue. By any definition it could be inferred as a sale of fixed income security and not equity.
It is investment into securities with such properties that has been happening for years and masquerading as private equity. Last week the Reserve Bank of India yielded to the long pending demands of the foreign private equity investors that the central bank legitimize put and call options in an equity investment contract. But the industry is still unhappy.
The issue is that such derivative contracts are legal so long as there is no assured return. Private equity investors say that this puts them at a disadvantage. But isn’t every equity investor at the same disadvantage? Is it not risk taking that gives such out sized returns? Equity investments are the riskiest form of investment and one could lose to the last paisa. But there is also an opportunity to earn many times the principal investment. This is one reason why the Securities & Exchange Board of India insists on the disclaimer ‘equity investments are subject to market risk’ on any public communication about an IPO or a mutual fund scheme. If this is the kind of risk that the less financially literate take in equity investment, then private equity investors are indeed a privileged lot with the assurances of the mandatory return clause.This is a way of guaranteeing risk free high returns. Read more of this post
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