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#61 Re: I got a job

Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2016 4:25 pm
by jack
"hedge fund" is just a name for a small investment company - it's become a pejorative term, almost insulting, because of the anti-social behaviour of just a very few of the 1000s out there.

I've worked for a couple - basically, they take investors' money and try to get the best return they can within set parameters, e.g. only certain market sectors (oil&gas, industrial, general), only certain types of instruments (long-only, bonds,FX etc.) and regions (EMEA, APAC, etc.). Each hedge fund may actually be made up of several funds, each with its own parameters - investors chose which fund to put their money into - normally you are investing in the management team of that fund - the individuals that make the investment decisions for the assets under management. There are also "funds of funds" whereby a fund invests in other funds (no circular investments!).

Fundamentally nothing wrong with them. Some got a bad name for seeming to exploit unfortunate circumstances, e.g. short-selling during the 2009/10 crisis etc. but they are regulated like all financial services companies - if people have issues with what funds get up to, they should blame the regulators. Most in these companies are not fund managers, i.e. they don't make investment decisions - they are ordinary folk - accountants, IT, business analysts, project management, client relationship, HR - just like any other company.

One I previously worked for, the main guy gave 50% of his income to charity and had done so since he started work as a junior in the City many years before. One year, that 50% was nearly £20 million - he never told anyone - only those in the business knew. I have absolutely no problem with that. Almost everyone I've worked with in the hedge fund world has been a decent, ordinary, Joe with the same morals as everyone else. They are no different.

This lot are backed by an individual with a huge social drive - very discrete, very private, but driven by philanthropy. He makes no fuss, just is a good guy.

#62 Re: I got a job

Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2016 8:30 pm
by Mike H
jack wrote:I can now I've got the contract.

I'm going to be Director of IT/CTO of a multi-billion dollar hedge fund based in Dubai.

Interesting company - they are a charitable fund, raising about $100M/pa for their projects - currently nearly 1500 projects in Africa directly running the health & education for 6 million children, and indirectly benefiting 100 million others people.

They are also the major funders of research into neglected tropical diseases
<snip>
I start there in September.
Mucho respek .. :notworthy:

#63 Re: I got a job

Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2016 8:42 pm
by Ray P
It sounds like an interesting challenge Nick, but it's important to have fun at work too - I hope it works out for you as positively as it sounds.

#64 Re: I got a job

Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2016 6:22 pm
by jack
Going OK at the moment. Spent last weekend driving the length of Mussandam, offroad, through its mountains. 160km of almost deserted mountain tracks - gave the new car a workout. Then diving in the Straits of Hormuz.
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#65 Re: I got a job

Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2016 7:17 pm
by Greg
Are those graves in the middle pic?

#66 Re: I got a job

Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2016 7:24 pm
by jack
Greg wrote:Are those graves in the middle pic?
Indeed. Pre-islamic, some of them.

The whole route us pretty desolate, isolated and rarely travelled, so don't know where all those people came from...

#67 Re: I got a job

Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2016 8:48 pm
by andrew Ivimey
It's a hard life!

#68 Re: I got a job

Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2016 10:17 pm
by shane
I hope Audis have good air filters!

#69 Re: I got a job

Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2016 10:26 pm
by andrew Ivimey
Kraft Durch technik ( did I spell it rite?)

#70 Re: I got a job

Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2016 10:33 pm
by pre65
andrew Ivimey wrote:Kraft Durch technik ( did I spell it rite?)

Audi ist die Hunde Hoden? :lol:

#71 Re: I got a job

Posted: Wed Oct 19, 2016 4:38 pm
by Mike H
Excellent!

#72 Re: I got a job

Posted: Sat Oct 22, 2016 8:11 am
by jack
Found out this week that we're the third largest funder in the world of projects aimed at eliminating NTDs (after USAID and the UK's DFID).

Hoping to work on a project in northern Ethiopia next spring....

Had the car valeted. Rather less disgusting now... Also changed the number plate as it turned out the previous one was "tainted"!

#73 Re: I got a job

Posted: Sat Oct 22, 2016 11:39 am
by Mike H
Please elaborate.

Tainted? NTD?


Image

#74 Re: I got a job

Posted: Sat Oct 22, 2016 12:42 pm
by jack
NTD = Neglected Tropical Diseases

Tainted is a tricky one.

The old numberplate on the car was problematic. The story is long and painful, but the essence was that we got arrested by the UAE border police when returning from Mussandam - the car was seized...

It turned out that back in 2006, a car with the same numberplate was used in criminal activity and there was a UAE-wide stop order on the car... 2006 is obviously several years before this car was made... No matter... it's 36C, we're in the middle of nowhere and the car is being confiscated... There is a complete sense of humour failure wrt criminal behaviour here...

To cut a very long story short, after being escorted in convoy to a military compound, we found someone helpful who realised there was obviously an almighty balls up and eventually realised that the original numberplate had been cancelled in 2006 but that the RTA (Road Transport Authority) had mistakenly reissued the plate without cancelling the stop order.

The previous owner of the car bought it new from VAG with a supposedly new numberplate, but they'd never left Dubai with this car (it was used by the wife for school runs etc.) so they'd never crossed a border and had this grief.

We were told to cut our holiday short, return to Dubai immediately, go straight to the RTA and police station and to have the numberplate changed...

I went from shock to anger to resigned to relief in the space of just a few hours... Pragmatic - put it all down to experience...

All hopefully OK now went to Abu Dhabi yesterday (Al Ain) with no problems... Saw 1,000s of camels and goats.

Too many, just too many...

#75 Re: I got a job

Posted: Sat Oct 22, 2016 1:25 pm
by Paul Barker
I thought youd gone there to work? Stop all this larking about.