By Alexander Green Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “Without a rich heart, wealth is an ugly beggar.”
More bankers and money managers should consider these words.
As I discussed in a recent column, money is important. It buys freedom, resources, comfort and time. But it cannot be the foundation of your happiness.
We derive real satisfaction from intangible things in life – relationships, hobbies, passions and, of course, the “warm glow” feeling that comes from helping others.
Portfolios with Purpose is a nonprofit that turns investment prowess into good deeds. It hosts a year-long virtual stock-picking contest for seasoned portfolio managers. The contestant with the highest 12-month return gets to donate the pot to the charity of their choice.
For a number of years, I have participated in Portfolios with Purpose alongside Wall Street bigwigs like David Einhorn and Mark Yusko. But I didn’t write this column to talk about myself – or them.
I wrote it to introduce you to Eric Fry, an ex-hedge fund manager and the 2016 winner of Portfolios with Purpose. He’s giving his winnings to The Oxford Club’s Roberto Clemente Health Clinic in Nicaragua.
This is a man who understands that money is a means to an end. And in this case, Eric’s end was funding a free clinic in one of the poorest countries in the Americas.
I’ve known of Eric for some time, but he has a reputation for elusiveness.
Extremely observant and analytical people like him are often a little shy.
But what Eric lacks in bravado, he makes up for with technical expertise. He has a keen understanding of the “life cycles” of equities.
In other words, he analyzes the patterns that influence the performance of individual stocks, as well as entire sectors.
Some of my longtime readers may frown at the word “patterns.” It may sound a bit like a market timing scheme.
It’s not. Eric’s approach is far more methodical… and less foolish.
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Market timers attempt to buy at the bottom and sell at the top, without having any real evidence behind their strategies. Their investing decisions are led by gut feelings. As a result, they’re prone to confirmation bias, panic-selling and other behaviors that generally lose money.
Eric, by contrast, analyzes more than 8,000 data points to track his equities through their life cycles. He incorporates growth metrics, value metrics and historical data into this process.
And his results speak for themselves.
He finished first in last year’s Portfolios with Purpose contest with an incredible annual return of 150%. It wasn’t even close – his portfolio earned 23% more than Einhorn’s.
There are two reasons I’m telling you all this.
First, Eric is a living example of how our financial system can be used to do good – not just well.
Second, The Oxford Club’s publishers have secured an exclusive opportunity to work with him. And we want to extend it to you.
As I write this, our team is flying out to Eric’s home in California for a private sit-down with the enigmatic investor. He has offered to bring a new trading service to the Club. It is unlike anything …read more
Source:: Investment You
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