Many of you are probably extremely puzzled about my 'Letter' explaining my 'Exit' from the London Stock Exchange which was sent out this week by the firm that I have been attached to as an Associate these last 7 years.
Today is the last day, barring some miracle, that I am working on the London Stock Exchange and frankly I can't wait until 16:30 hours later today.
I know that I have made the correct decision.
Just in the last hour 3 emails have arrived (alongside the other 70 or so I receive daily) all commenting on important matters of REGULATION. As many who might have read my blog these last few years know full well I believe passionately that my favourite topic, REGULATION is NOT just part of the problem but is in fact THE problem. How do I know this? Well, I had the good fortune to accompany my father one day on to the old floor of the old Stock Exchange in the early 1960's when Hoblyn & King was circling various firms. In those days the brokers spent 100% of their time (when they weren't entertaining in their clubs and local watering holes) dealing on the market, studying stocks & shares (the old terms are always the best) and speaking to their clients who were their life blood. This old way of doing business always put the client first and all aspects of the firms, from the office manager to the the most junior settlements staff as well as the famed tea ladies, all understood that it was their roles to support the brokers in this great adventure. The adventure was indeed a daily buzz as all around everything to do was investment and client driven. I still believe passionately that this should be the case.
The first email was from a colleague wishing me luck for the future and finished by saying that
"I can understand your point of view but you are more than capable of doing these stupid exams, RDR or whatever so why give up if you love the business".
I've lost count of the number of times people have said this to me in the last 18 months. The next 2 emails received today may explain why the "capability" argument is a nonsense. The 1st email is from the iFS School of Finance which used to be the Institute of Bankers in the old days. Just like the LSE it too got hijacked somewhere along the way. This is the thread of the iFS email;-
Dear Mr Hoblyn
Essentials of supervision: helping to prepare your firm for the RDR
Don't forget to book your place at our forthcoming Institute event with Charles Cattell, founding Partner of the Cattellyst Consultancy, which is being held on Tuesday 10 July! Charles is a consultant and training practitioner with extensive expertise across the financial services sector.
This taster workshop will provide an opportunity for those with supervisory responsibilities for advisers under the RDR to explore the nature of those responsibilities, to identify some of the key activities which the role demands of them and to consider how to address some of the challenges they are likely to face.
By the end of the workshop, participants will be:
• aware of the expectations that the firm and the regulator place on them as supervisors
• able to recognise some potentially challenging supervisory situations and be equipped with some pointers and tips for handling them
• able to identify some specific responsibilities for supervisors created by the implementation of the RDR
Has everyone read this as you'll be tested on this subject later? Actually once digested it says absolutely nothing. In fact it is claptrap and reminds me of that course that health & safety officers preach to show decorators and firemen how to climb ladders.
The 3rd email though is my favourite., It comes from Goodacre, a firm that has studied RDR to the nth degree and makes rather a splendid living from the 600 odd pages that the RDR document encompasses. It reads;-
Gap-fill training really needs to be completed in the next couple of months to allow sufficient time to process the necessary registrations. Goodacre has designed specific training courses to fulfill the gaps between CISI qualifications and the new RDR (Retail Distribution Review) standards.
LSE Gap-fill is running over four full-day sessions in London from 09:00-17:00 each day on the following dates:
10th, 17th, 21st & 31st August
A full day session of Securities runs from 09:00-16:00 in London on 6th July
We are also running PCIAM Gap-fill training and Derivatives training on an in-house basis.
CPD Certificates will be issued on completion of the training
In the column attached to the email it proudly states;-
4-day LSE Gap-Fill Training
£992+VAT
Covering the 28 core hours or Financial Services, Regulation & Ethics, Investment Principles & Risk and Personal Taxation.
1-Day Securities Course
£225+VAT
Covering the main topics of The Securities Market, Dealing Principles, Clearing & Settlement
Influences, and Behaviours & Risks.
So there you have it. The RDR is a milking machine for all concerned and the best part of the RDR is that it isn't going to go away. Investors (let's call them clients or customers but I suspect many will think that they're suckers as many brokers and wealth managers will be away from their desks doing all this compliance gap filling alongside a host of other compliance driven courses) are going to end up paying for all this against a backdrop of an ever decreasing standard of service.
Just how am I as a stockbroker in UK supposed to talk to market counterparties, attend market driven meetings (I get invites daily), liaise with 150 clients, deal with settlements issues and at the same time analyse, recommend, buy and sell securities when I'm being dragged away to attend claptrap meetings? I'm afraid 'life is just too short' for all of this.
Next stop.......well has anyone guessed what I'll be doing and where I'll be doing it from in future?
Hasta la vista FSA! And the same to you FCA, having rebranded yourselves. The age of the ninkumpoop is upon us.
ps My exit letter will be published in due course along with more comments of my real life experiences in the age of the fascist compliance regime.
Friday 29 June 2012
Friday 1 June 2012
PGS + PQE = Common Sense
As US 10-year Treasury yields flounder in 1.73% territory, UK 10-year around 1.69%, as ultra high risk euro-sovereigns yield (ex-Greece & Portugal) and trade in the 6-7% universe (Spain c.6.7% Italy c.6%) , as monetarists stand by the taps to turn on the QE printing presses for an umteenth time there is one thing that everyone should be made aware of now. Well, two things actually but who's counting in the scale of incalculable accounting inaccuracies everywhere.
It has been my studied belief for the last decade now that we are entering a period that monetarists and economists everywhere will in years to come call the 'the second coming of the gold standard' but actually I have coined a name for this phase that I think is more appropriate. We're now in the "PGS" era or as I like to call it, "The Pseudo Gold Standard" period. Heck, if that eternal optimist from Goldman Sachs Economics team, Jim O'Neill (he's being lined up for the Bank of England Governorship), can achieve eternal recognition, near immortality for coining the phrase "B R I C" (Brazil Russia India China in case anyone has missed it) then please give ME the credit for "PGS". By the way whilst we're at this game I may as well tell you that my friend Mr Finbar Taggit of http://www.fintag.com/ has already coined the abbreviation "P I I S" which I think takes into account the expected ejection of Greece (or is it a retreat?) from the "P I I G S" fiasco. Please don't take exception to "P I I S". I believe it stands for Portugal, Italy, Ireland and Spain who possibly are next up for a wee spot of bother although with spanish banks currently in the doldrums I think Finbar could have chosen the more chronological "S I I P", "S I P I" or perhaps "S P I I". Anyway he's taken the "P I I S" abbreviation and we must all live with it.
"PGS" for the sake of asking is in fact the blatant recognition from 'credit economies' that they'd prefer to back their currencies with bullion whilst the US, UK and all of the old European powers prefer to trash their currencies and economies through the daft and persistent programs known as QE. Just recently the IMF reported the following gold bullion purchases ;- Philippines (32 tonnes), Sri Lanka (2), Turkey (29), Mexico (3), Kazakhstan (2) and Ukraine (1.4). Can anyone spot the anomaly here? No european super-powers and just Ceylon as the former colony. Or the curiosity? Just why would Turkey buy gold and still want to join the EU.....of boy! It seems the developing world understands basic global economics and sensible sovereign governance better than many of our own central bankers, politicians, economists, etc. I'd expect more of the same here for many years to come as (financial, social and military) stress seems to be the order of the day everywhere.
In reference to the titled equation at the top of this blog just what is "PQE" then? Well, it's something else I've just coined. It's called "Personal Quantative Easing" and it goes like this. If say Mervyn King thinks that future generations of Brits are having their jobs and incomes protected through QE then "PQE" may be a valid alternative for those fed up with QE and the lack of growth equating to job creation, etc. QE as we all know creates electronic money in order to buy gilts (UK gov debt) with the idea of injecting liquidity into the financial markets and eventual economy. It's supposed to catalyse bank lending too but since there wasn't any lending to SME's before the crisis started in 2007 I don't see how we can expect to have a banking system designed to stimulate business when actually it has been profiting from the very same businesses the banking industry is and was designed to support. Pretty well since the late '80s all our commercial banks have traded against us not with us. This has been particularly true ironically of the financial services industry as we all know. That subject is for another day.
So if one has cash and one is concerned about the UK economy what does one do with it? Buying gilts has been and is a pointless exercise. They are all horrendously over-priced and only for the brave bar the odd index-linked variety. With official inflation today at c. 3% (from 5%) and possible real inflation ("pri" oh stop it!) nearer to 10% there is little scope for liquid asset protection. Banks are paying zero to a farthing on deposits and current accounts whilst higher risk building societies challenge the bank rate mechanics by offering HIGH RISK RATES without health warnings to countless unsuspecting depositors. Are these cash packages really protected by FSCS £80,000 threshold? Well, time will tell.
No, the extraordinary observation and opportunity is in "PQE". Whilst tax payers annd ordinary citizens stand by to allow QE there is a market methodology all of its own that is being devised as I speak. Starting with the premise that Gold is cheap and going up (see countless sensible analysts and their arguments for this premise) then it is easy to assume that a bonanza in gold shares will ultimately follow. Meanwhile today one can take very little risk in capital markets by purchasing shares (is the risk really any different to government backed guarantees in an horrendous debt enforced environment?) in some of the large producers at rock bottom prices (p/e's in low single digits). For example (note ALL gross yields before tax) Newmont yields 2.87%, Freeport McMoran 3.86%, Agnico Eagle 2.01%, Barrick Resources 2.00% (on LSE African Barrick yields 3.01%, Petropavlovsk 3.25% and Randgold 0.50% by comparison), GoldCorp 1.43% and there are countless others also paying out dividends on a more favourable basis than bank deposits and with the added bonus of a major pick up in prices in the foreseeable future. Much has been stated about the reason for the pricing anomaly but in essence it would appear that our old adversaries at JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs have been shorting gold shares for several years whilst going LONG the gold ETF market. It's feasible that the hedging will get reversed quite soon with new sovereigns openly buying bullion positions. The IMF and UK are just two powers that have virtually exhausted their gold reserves. I'd expect this to be reversed as the penny is indeed dropping. As an aside Newmont has stated that it's dividend policy will reflect the gold price; so if Gold goes say to $3,000pto the dividend should increase pari passu. It's mind boggling to consider though if Gold goes to the top end forecast of $60,000pto. Who said that Gold is NOT a credible investment (or currency) against a derivatives driven banking and capital markets universe? In addition if one's a bull of the oil price similar attractive yields can be found in oil majors right now. Conoco Phillips yield 4.98%, Royal Dutch Shell 5.11%, Encana 3.84% with a host of others offering returns around 2 x (+) higher than current UK and US 10-year yields. DYOR.
So try a bit of "PQE" if you recognise "PGS", you know it will one day make sense and may well get us all out of a rather large hole.
NOTE THIS BLOG IS NOT DEEMED TO BE AN INVESTMENT RECOMMENDATION FOR ANY COMMODITIES OR EQUITIES MENTIONED IN THE ARTICLE.
It has been my studied belief for the last decade now that we are entering a period that monetarists and economists everywhere will in years to come call the 'the second coming of the gold standard' but actually I have coined a name for this phase that I think is more appropriate. We're now in the "PGS" era or as I like to call it, "The Pseudo Gold Standard" period. Heck, if that eternal optimist from Goldman Sachs Economics team, Jim O'Neill (he's being lined up for the Bank of England Governorship), can achieve eternal recognition, near immortality for coining the phrase "B R I C" (Brazil Russia India China in case anyone has missed it) then please give ME the credit for "PGS". By the way whilst we're at this game I may as well tell you that my friend Mr Finbar Taggit of http://www.fintag.com/ has already coined the abbreviation "P I I S" which I think takes into account the expected ejection of Greece (or is it a retreat?) from the "P I I G S" fiasco. Please don't take exception to "P I I S". I believe it stands for Portugal, Italy, Ireland and Spain who possibly are next up for a wee spot of bother although with spanish banks currently in the doldrums I think Finbar could have chosen the more chronological "S I I P", "S I P I" or perhaps "S P I I". Anyway he's taken the "P I I S" abbreviation and we must all live with it.
"PGS" for the sake of asking is in fact the blatant recognition from 'credit economies' that they'd prefer to back their currencies with bullion whilst the US, UK and all of the old European powers prefer to trash their currencies and economies through the daft and persistent programs known as QE. Just recently the IMF reported the following gold bullion purchases ;- Philippines (32 tonnes), Sri Lanka (2), Turkey (29), Mexico (3), Kazakhstan (2) and Ukraine (1.4). Can anyone spot the anomaly here? No european super-powers and just Ceylon as the former colony. Or the curiosity? Just why would Turkey buy gold and still want to join the EU.....of boy! It seems the developing world understands basic global economics and sensible sovereign governance better than many of our own central bankers, politicians, economists, etc. I'd expect more of the same here for many years to come as (financial, social and military) stress seems to be the order of the day everywhere.
In reference to the titled equation at the top of this blog just what is "PQE" then? Well, it's something else I've just coined. It's called "Personal Quantative Easing" and it goes like this. If say Mervyn King thinks that future generations of Brits are having their jobs and incomes protected through QE then "PQE" may be a valid alternative for those fed up with QE and the lack of growth equating to job creation, etc. QE as we all know creates electronic money in order to buy gilts (UK gov debt) with the idea of injecting liquidity into the financial markets and eventual economy. It's supposed to catalyse bank lending too but since there wasn't any lending to SME's before the crisis started in 2007 I don't see how we can expect to have a banking system designed to stimulate business when actually it has been profiting from the very same businesses the banking industry is and was designed to support. Pretty well since the late '80s all our commercial banks have traded against us not with us. This has been particularly true ironically of the financial services industry as we all know. That subject is for another day.
So if one has cash and one is concerned about the UK economy what does one do with it? Buying gilts has been and is a pointless exercise. They are all horrendously over-priced and only for the brave bar the odd index-linked variety. With official inflation today at c. 3% (from 5%) and possible real inflation ("pri" oh stop it!) nearer to 10% there is little scope for liquid asset protection. Banks are paying zero to a farthing on deposits and current accounts whilst higher risk building societies challenge the bank rate mechanics by offering HIGH RISK RATES without health warnings to countless unsuspecting depositors. Are these cash packages really protected by FSCS £80,000 threshold? Well, time will tell.
No, the extraordinary observation and opportunity is in "PQE". Whilst tax payers annd ordinary citizens stand by to allow QE there is a market methodology all of its own that is being devised as I speak. Starting with the premise that Gold is cheap and going up (see countless sensible analysts and their arguments for this premise) then it is easy to assume that a bonanza in gold shares will ultimately follow. Meanwhile today one can take very little risk in capital markets by purchasing shares (is the risk really any different to government backed guarantees in an horrendous debt enforced environment?) in some of the large producers at rock bottom prices (p/e's in low single digits). For example (note ALL gross yields before tax) Newmont yields 2.87%, Freeport McMoran 3.86%, Agnico Eagle 2.01%, Barrick Resources 2.00% (on LSE African Barrick yields 3.01%, Petropavlovsk 3.25% and Randgold 0.50% by comparison), GoldCorp 1.43% and there are countless others also paying out dividends on a more favourable basis than bank deposits and with the added bonus of a major pick up in prices in the foreseeable future. Much has been stated about the reason for the pricing anomaly but in essence it would appear that our old adversaries at JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs have been shorting gold shares for several years whilst going LONG the gold ETF market. It's feasible that the hedging will get reversed quite soon with new sovereigns openly buying bullion positions. The IMF and UK are just two powers that have virtually exhausted their gold reserves. I'd expect this to be reversed as the penny is indeed dropping. As an aside Newmont has stated that it's dividend policy will reflect the gold price; so if Gold goes say to $3,000pto the dividend should increase pari passu. It's mind boggling to consider though if Gold goes to the top end forecast of $60,000pto. Who said that Gold is NOT a credible investment (or currency) against a derivatives driven banking and capital markets universe? In addition if one's a bull of the oil price similar attractive yields can be found in oil majors right now. Conoco Phillips yield 4.98%, Royal Dutch Shell 5.11%, Encana 3.84% with a host of others offering returns around 2 x (+) higher than current UK and US 10-year yields. DYOR.
So try a bit of "PQE" if you recognise "PGS", you know it will one day make sense and may well get us all out of a rather large hole.
NOTE THIS BLOG IS NOT DEEMED TO BE AN INVESTMENT RECOMMENDATION FOR ANY COMMODITIES OR EQUITIES MENTIONED IN THE ARTICLE.
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