Friday Feature Book Review: Other People's Money by Justin Cartwright OPM: 裕福な家族のお金 (ヨーロッパの物語): ジャスティン・カートライト

Ultra High Net Worth families spend a lot, perhaps even more than they should. Top wealth managers in Switzerland, like UBS & Credit Suisse, have moved away from investment banking. They have refocused on private wealth management due to this real need to help wealth preservation for rich families. Private Banking services for the 1% are the next clear trend globally. This book is about one of these rich families and the lifestyle that they lead. OPM is a wealth management term for "Other People's Money" and is still used today.

The plot involves a very old bank, a family office, and the people involved with running that money, not just the deals themselves. The main focus is on the many up and coming rich generations that feel entitled to wealth made by their parents or grandparents. The selfish view seems to be "the money's all in the family, and I deserve all of it!" This is the main story line. 

What world do the super rich in Europe live in? That is what this book describes. It is ultimately a description of a recent period of time post Madoff, post Lehman, and the aftershocks that may be going on now that are being felt by private banks today. It may be fair to say that this book shows what is happening to families in Europe. Similar families in China or Japan should take note as they may soon follow the slippery slope downward. Lessons on better financial habits could be learned. You cannot spend your way into making a fortune, no matter what generation of family wealth you are a part of. That lesson was clear to me, but not to some of the characters.

It is pleasant light reading for lazy days by the beach on vacation anywhere, like in the south of France, where it is partly set. It describes the place very well. You certainly learn key insight about what kind of characters work inside a very old private bank. What are their old money customers like? Much is revealed about the attitudes of High Net Worth clients, and their typical actions around entitlement. It is revealing and shows all behavior, both good and bad by this pampered portion of society. 

The Top 3 Takeaways from this book that really impact any reader are:

1) There is a clear detachment with multi-generational HNW families and their wealth. It is not about any return on capital, but more a return of capital with investments!

2) The South of France does seem to have a large number of British nationals spending away the family office wealth with no end in sight.

3) Keeping hungry economically after financial success has never been easy to families that want to continue past second or third generations of wealth.

It is worth a read if that kind of fiction is what you seek. It is not a fast-paced hard core thriller about the famous financial "City" of London, England. I say this because it touches on the financial world, but does not really live or breath it. It is more of a pleasant fictional novel about people, who happen to be wealthy. I did not mind myself, but financial markets are basically just the scenery around the story, and not intrinsic to it. If that works for you, it is Highly Recommended!

Please visit us for our Friday Feature Review where TMJ Partners will review books, movies, services and anything else with a financial theme. Follow us now for our free weekly updates, just click here. Thank you for reading and learning more about how money is made in finance!

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あなたがアジアや日本のセールストレーディング,
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Friday Feature Book Review: Security Analysis: The Classic 1934 Edition by Benjamin Graham 証券分析 【1934年版第1版】 (ウィザードブックシリーズ ) ベンジャミン・グレアム

What tools are needed in order to become a billionaire? At least 3 billionaires I admire used this book. They are Warren Buffett, Mario Gabelli, and John Bogle. If these 3 titans of finance used it, I am sure it could be worth a read. It is not light reading. At 700+ pages, it is literally heavy lifting (or reading), but still very much worthwhile. I was most attracted to the table of contents in how it laid out financial security analysis. 

I was also attracted to the timeline of expectations. It basically explains that markets rise and fall, and the 1929 crash was a product of a perfect storm of events, a true outlier. Financial markets went through the same storm of events in 2008. The most interesting observation though was the "canary in the coal mine" of a preceding financial event. The more you study history, the more unlikely you are of repeating the mistakes you observe. Those who do not study history are doomed to repeat those very same mistakes.  

Back in 1928, there was a huge credit event, and a year later, we had the great crash. This should have been remembered, but was not. Back in August of 2007, there was a similar credit event in mid August, many wondered what happened at the time, then just forgot. It was a clear precursor to what was to follow. The markets did not forget and the Lehman crisis began in September of the following year in 2008.

There are many solid explanations that are perfectly relevant for markets today. The most interesting subject for me was around the difference between speculation and investment. In these days of cryptocurrency now, a review of this point again seems very timely. Ultimately, you have to start with facts. This is an excellent source of facts to build a solid foundation of any financial understanding.

The Top 3 Takeaways from this book that impact any reader are:

1) You need to identify your investment goals, and know the clear difference between investment and speculation. In this current age of crypto, this classic lesson needs a full review and reinterpretation. Different skills are needed for different parts of any portfolio.

2) You need to fully understand what fixed income securities bring to any portfolio over time. True solid investment is often the goal, and is based on long term incentives. The skills needed for fixed income are one particular set, another different set is needed for equities. Many confuse the two as being the same.

3) You need to value speculative instruments like equities or digital assets like Bitcoin. They have short term benefits to many portfolios. The question is often can you exit these instruments after any price peak. Market timing is often the most important decision to be made.

Even under classic rules for securities within financial markets, core basics still ring true. The products may change, but the core values stay the same. After the 1929 market crash, all equities were questioned for their speculative value. The banking system and the regulations around them had to change and adapt to protect the retail investors. Today, cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin are seen in a very similar way. A pure speculative instrument that need more government regulation in order to protect the retail investor. 

The more things change, the more they stay the same. Financial markets often follow a rising and falling pattern and markets after the Great Financial Crisis of 2008 closely reflect 1929. We can learn from our financial history and adapt. For anybody wondering what the future of crypto will be like and how our financial system may change, this book can explain the base principles you need for any future changes. It is the bible of finance in many ways. Why not consider the tools that the most successful investor of our time, Warren Buffett, learned from? Maybe you too can be a billionaire!

Please visit us for our Friday Feature Review where TMJ Partners will review books, movies, services and anything else with a financial theme. Follow us now for our free weekly updates, just click here. Thank you for reading and learning more about how money is made in finance!

If you are interested in Sales & Trading, Banking or FinTech focused roles in Asia or Japan then click here. Follow TMJ Partners on Linkedin Instagram or Twitter. We are the world's #1 recruiter on Twitter, with over 40,000+ followers globally! click here! 

あなたがアジアや日本のセールストレーディング,
バンキング、フィンテックの役割に興味がある場合は、こちらをクリックしてください。ティエムジェィパートナーズをLinkedin Instagram またはTwitterでフォローしてください！ 世界中のTwitterで第1位のリクルーター、40,000以上のフォロワーを既に持っています！クリックしてください。

For more Buy-Side and Sell-Side roles in Asia-Pacific, contact our TMJ Partners Japan & Asia Finance team.
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      Mark  Pink                               Shinichi Nagasawa
Direct + 81 3 3505 3891              Direct + 81 3 3505 3891

Friday Feature Book Review: Think & Grow RICH: Napoleon Hill 思考は現実化する: ナポレオン ヒル

This may be the very first business self-help book ever written. Andrew Carnegie, who sold Carnegie Steel to financier J.P. Morgan for US$480Million in 1901, is the book's great inspiration. He would be a billionaire today, and one of very few in the world. He surpassed oil king John D. Rockefeller, as the richest American at that time. This M&A became US Steel and is still listed today as USX. It is his very humble beginnings from nothing, that lead him to great riches. Built upon the mental attitude it takes to be successful, when many others fail to meet and achieve their goals. 

There are many great observations made by this business titan, and luckily the author was able to hear and write down many of his most worthwhile lessons of success. That lifetime of valuable business lessons is what this book is about. They are the personal success notes from one of the world's first billionaires. A very valuable set of tips to learn from. Luckily, these notes were shared with others like Henry Ford (Ford Motor Company), Thomas Edison (General Electric), and George Eastman who created Kodak. Many other politicians and other great men were able to put these lessons into practice and be successful.

As a boy, Andrew Carnegie learned & studied in a library. This gave him the foundation that prepared him for global business later on. He later used his fortune to fund libraries for others to follow in his own footsteps. He developed many of his own rules that included the 6 desires for gold, the value of the master mind, and the 5 drivers of self confidence. 

He was a great manager of men and could recognize talent early on. This was because of his principles that recognized proven clues to leaderships and 31 flaws common with failure. He developed a self awareness inventory of core abilities based on 28 points. Despite so many ways to best understand the ability to create ideas, it is the persistence needed to carry them out, that often wins the day. It is perhaps the most important trait needed to be successful. Focus and determination are key drivers for a never ending self improvement of your personal skills. Ultimately, success is about "life long learning", never a single lesson.

The Top 3 Takeaways from this book that impact any reader are:

1) You need to identify your goals for whatever you want in life, and give yourself a deadline to get them done.

2) You need to associate with positive like minded people who can help you achieve your goals. you need to form a "Master Mind" circle of mentors.

3) You need to have a clear idea on your strengths and weaknesses. Once they are clear to yourself, you must focus on changing any weaknesses into strengths.

Life can impact any career and a spouse can certainly make or break many a career. All of these key points are more are well described and explained within this great book originally written in 1937. It is timeless and stands the test of time.

Please visit us for our Friday Feature Review where TMJ Partners will review books, movies, services and anything else with a financial theme. Follow us now for our free weekly updates, just click here. Thank you for reading and learning more about how money is made in finance!

If you are interested in Sales & Trading, Banking or FinTech focused roles in Asia or Japan then click here. Follow TMJ Partners on Linkedin Instagram or Twitter. We are the world's #1 recruiter on Twitter, with over 40,000+ followers globally! click here! 

あなたがアジアや日本のセールストレーディング,
バンキング、フィンテックの役割に興味がある場合は、こちらをクリックしてください。ティエムジェィパートナーズをLinkedin Instagram またはTwitterでフォローしてください！ 世界中のTwitterで第1位のリクルーター、40,000以上のフォロワーを既に持っています！クリックしてください。

For more Buy-Side and Sell-Side roles in Asia-Pacific, contact our TMJ Partners Japan & Asia Finance team.
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      Mark  Pink                               Shinichi Nagasawa
Direct + 81 3 3505 3891              Direct + 81 3 3505 3891

Friday Feature Book Review: "CDO: How I Caused the Credit Crunch" : Tetsuya Ishikawa CDOリーマンショックの物語: 石川哲也

It is now over 10 years since Lehman Brothers went bankrupt. However, with the global bond markets at near zero rates due to Covid-19 financial stimulus, a new credit bubble is forming. Over 10+ years ago, the world had a similar bubble with CDOs. This is a great look back at the Lehman Brothers crash and the Bear Stearns rescue by JP Morgan, now almost a decade ago. This amusing novel gives a real insider's view on how the very frothy credit markets got there in the first place. It all lead to the Great Financial Crisis, and many new financial compliance rules that we still follow today.

For those who were just making a solid living in equities, fixed income and credit was a ticking time bomb. The author Tetsuya Ishikawa, is a Japanese British citizen, who worked at Goldman Sachs. He directly worked with collateralized debt obligations, better known as CDOs, that all blew up later on.

This is a great in-depth answer to those wondering about what a credit job in a global financial institution would have been like. This is a pleasant read if you like "The Wolf of Wall Street" style stories. It is full of slices of the excesses of money, booze, strippers, drugs and fine hotels, but not really strong in substance or market insight. 

The odd feeling you get by reading this book now though, is how few people seemed to have been aware of the clouds on the horizon. There may have been worry and concern over the amount of risk, but not enough to lose sleep over. The reality of the melt down turned out to be a much bigger event than anybody seemed to have anticipated.

The Top 3 Takeaways from this book that impact any reader are:

1) There seemed to be no clear understanding by traders of how badly any abuse of credit via CDOs could end.

2) The focus on making as much money as possible personally, seemed to be the only religion at the time within Finance.

3) How interconnected the global world of finance really became, was not truly understood, only suspected.

You also learn more about how to survive within investment banking office politics, a very essential and much needed skill. It is critically important to know, how to make sure you can "get recognized" enough by the Managing Directors who write the checks, in order to get paid that mythical 7 figure income, but little else. 

It gives a curious account of one man's view of his role in a huge event, but is kept at the main character's human level. This is much less about how the big picture of the global credit crisis really came together in any clear form. When you are in the center of things, you often do not realize the size of the market all around you.

For anybody who has spent a few years in any front office role, the descriptions all ring true, and the author has clearly been there. However, there was nothing really new or too insightful, just great observations of a certain point in time. I found it similar to a trash magazine snack for the mind, a sugar rush equivalent. 

It was hardly a satisfying mental meal, but that was not the point. Like a fast food burger, it still satisfied a certain need with enough written details to quench a thirst for a financial story break over the weekend. Highly Recommended!

Please visit us for our Friday Feature Review where TMJ Partners will review books, movies, services and anything else with a financial theme. Follow us now for our free weekly updates, just click here. Thank you for reading and learning more about how money is made in finance!

If you are interested in Sales & Trading, Banking or FinTech focused roles in Asia or Japan then click here. Follow TMJ Partners on Linkedin Instagram or Twitter. We are the world's #1 recruiter on Twitter, with over 40,000+ followers globally! click here! 

あなたがアジアや日本のセールストレーディング,
バンキング、フィンテックの役割に興味がある場合は、こちらをクリックしてください。ティエムジェィパートナーズをLinkedin Instagram またはTwitterでフォローしてください！ 世界中のTwitterで第1位のリクルーター、40,000以上のフォロワーを既に持っています！クリックしてください。

For more Buy-Side and Sell-Side roles in Asia-Pacific, contact our TMJ Partners Japan & Asia Finance team.
Tokyo                                          Tokyo

      Mark  Pink                               Shinichi Nagasawa
Direct + 81 3 3505 3891              Direct + 81 3 3505 3891

Friday Feature Book Review: Benjamin Franklin's The Way To Wealth by Steve Shipside ベンジャミン・フランクリンは、富への道です: スティーブ・シープサイド

 

American history's late great Benjamin Franklin, died a very rich man. He discovered 52 rules to help him find a great fortune. He was an inventor, scientist, inventor, diplomat, statesman, and was a highly educated man of his age. He knew the value and pleasure of Bordeaux Wines, fine food and the true value of money. He was talented in many ways, and this book explains many of his favorite principals he felt were needed to be successful. It highlights his 52 best ideas that can help any modern man build a modern fortune. 

Despite his connection to electricity, this is not a list of technology ideas to be the next Tesla innovation. It is more a great guide to know how to focus on what is important and build towards solid profits no matter where you live and work. There are many well known words of wisdom here, that have lasted for over 250 years. One of his favorite maxims was "early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise". 

In fact, the phrase "No Pain No Gain" is a direct quote from Benjamin Franklin. He fully understood the impact of exercise and the health of any person, but within business as well. Many journalists used trade union pressure help to resist the "pain of having to use" a new PC 20+ years ago. What was not understood was that once learned, the PC helped make the same journalistic work even easier to do in time. The PC was just a tool that made the work of journalism easier to perform than a typewriter. That is a classic business style application of the "no pain, no gain" principle. The pain of learning at first, will help later on after using this newly gained knowledge.

The Top 3 Takeaways from this book that really impact any reader are:

1) There is no easy way to be successful by using short cuts in life or in business.

2) A key driver of success is self discipline. Without it high standards lower and performance suffers.

3) Success is often a combination of many personality factors. Any key founder or entrepreneur has, not just one single talent only, often many skills.

This book goes on to give not only a US version of work & life balance but with a wider international twist as well. How the US is compared to Europe and Asia is refreshing. With the phrase "be the driver, not the drone". The concept of making sure "you drive the business and not have the business drive you", was known long ago. It is not a modern problem of the last 30 years due to technology. It is a surprise to learn how many of these modern guides are actually very old and proven rules to success.

The list is long and the modern interpretations of them are very well explained. It all helps a modern reader fully understand what a current wealth builder needs to consider today. There are more than fifty of these great ways to wealth, and all are worth absorbing and building into any daily modern routine. Do not be fooled by the years of time. These deep insights help you to make money in your career today, and find a life balance that is worth a fortune in effort. Very highly recommended.

Please visit us for our Friday Feature Review where TMJ Partners will review books, movies, services and anything else with a financial theme. Follow us now for our free weekly updates, just click here. Thank you for reading and learning more about how money is made in finance!

If you are interested in Sales & Trading, Banking or FinTech focused roles in Asia or Japan then click here. Follow TMJ Partners on Linkedin Instagram or Twitter. We are the world's #1 recruiter on Twitter, with over 40,000+ followers globally! click here! 

あなたがアジアや日本のセールストレーディング,
バンキング、フィンテックの役割に興味がある場合は、こちらをクリックしてください。ティエムジェィパートナーズをLinkedin Instagram またはTwitterでフォローしてください！ 世界中のTwitterで第1位のリクルーター、40,000以上のフォロワーを既に持っています！クリックしてください。

For more Buy-Side and Sell-Side roles in Asia-Pacific, contact our TMJ Partners Japan & Asia Finance team.
Tokyo                                          Tokyo

      Mark  Pink                               Shinichi Nagasawa
Direct + 81 3 3505 3891              Direct + 81 3 3505 3891