Uncategorized

When the anti-Wall Street rant morphs into just another sales pitch

close

Email a Friend

I know there’s a movement spearheaded by indexers, Bogleheads, Efficient Market Hypothesists, Random Walkers and just plain haters of vampire squid to hate everything Wall Street.  This is not a post defending the barbarians at the gate or even the monkeys in charge of the business.  Rather, I’m riffing on a more recent phenomenon I’m experiencing — that of the mainstream contrarian.

Just another sales pitch

Listen, with so much money at stake, Wall Street has brought opprobrium on itself with outsized returns, lavish lifestyles and bigger than life personalities.  Cramming poor investment schemes and products down clients who should and shouldn’t know better has been a staple of the business for decades.

So, of course, it comes as no surprise that a lot of people have been looking for alternatives.  Better ways of investing, saving and planning for their financial futures.  And it comes as no surprise that a whole industry of products and services arose to supply these investors.  From slick investment newsletters, communities of pundits punters like Seeking Alpha, talking heads on CNBC and even the ETF industry — all have merely taken the old Wall Street model and merely updated it.

Enter the mainstream contrarian.

So, instead of crappy structured products being sold hard by brokers, investors are left with hundreds of arcane ETFs without any real idea what to do with them.  Buy and hold ’em?  Well, that doesn’t really work for investors on the cusp — or in — retirement who need to actively generate income.  Asset allocation?  Well, who really knows what the right mix of risk and return is for anyone?  401(k)s?  Well, those are being manipulated and forcibly rebalanced in a way that’s good for the mutual fund companies, bad for investors.

Evoluton, not revolution

We’ve taken the honorable pursuit of looking for better alternatives to Wall Street yet have merely replaced Wall Street with another manifestation of slick sales people taking advantage of unsuspecting investors.  Investors eat up the anti-Wall Street pitch.  That there is a better way.

And there is.  But it can’t be sold; It has to be bought.  It requires being intellectually honest and not just compliantly honest.  It requires creating technologies, services, and platforms that say:

hey, the old way typically didn’t work.  We have just one possible solution.  But to be honest — we’re dealing with uncertainty. Nobody really knows the right way to do this.  We believe ours is a good product/service but ultimately, we’re all in this together, trying to plan for a future which is ultimately unknowable.

I guess these aren’t really solutions as much as they are gamemplans.  This way, this evolution (not, revolution) in financial services truly departs the old way.  Otherwise, it’s just the Wall Street wolf dressed up in anti-wolf clothing.

0 comments on “When the anti-Wall Street rant morphs into just another sales pitch”

Outlier OpinionsMakers

Uncategorized

Rebranding rebirth: Netspend and Rêv come together to form Ouro

  • Prepaid card provider, Netspend, and Rêv, a digital payment technology provider, recently integrated under a new brand called Ouro.
  • The new brand tells the story of rebirths as the Sosa brothers return to Netspend, a company they founded out of their apartment in 1999.
Rabab Ahsan | November 20, 2023
Uncategorized

The Daily Tearsheet: A day in the life of Kristen Anderson, the CEO and co-founder of Catch

  • In this daily, we've got a day in the life of Kristen Anderson, the CEO and co-founder of Catch
  • And in other news, NFTs continue to spread.
Rivka Abramson | May 03, 2022
Uncategorized

Job Opening: People Person

  • Tearsheet is growing and looking to hire a People Person.
  • You'll help us source and grow new talent for our team.
Tearsheet Editors | December 09, 2021
Uncategorized

Job Opening: Audio-Visual Editor

  • Tearsheet's podcasts, webinars, and conferences are industry favorites.
  • We're looking for a ninja editor to take our audio/visual content to the next level.
Arifah Esar | January 01, 2021
Uncategorized

Careers at Tearsheet – Journalist

  • Tearsheet is an impactful media organization, helping its audience understand the impact technology has on financial services.
  • We're always looking for great writing talent to add to our team and organization.
Aaron Singer | January 01, 2021
More Articles