Archive

Friday 8th October saw the UK release of the sequel to Oliver Stone's 1987 movie Wall Street which starred Michael Douglas in his Oscar winning role as Gordon Gekko.

On Wednesday 15th September we celebrated the 70th anniversary of Battle of Britain Day with the unveiling of the statue of Sir Keith Park in Waterloo Place, London.

As Mrs Moneypenny pointed out in her column on 11th Sept, the campaign was launched in that column three years to the day prior to the unveiling:

As stated before, our main focus at Fundsmith is on producing superior investment returns. However, fees produce a major drag on returns over time. I founded Fundsmith to offer a high quality portfolio of resilient global growth companies which we hold for the long term and for which we charge a reasonable fee with no hidden costs.

I don't want to focus on fees to the exclusion of all else - our main focus at Fundsmith is on delivering superior performance. However, we would like to point out the very meaningful drag that fees and charges have on investment performance.

There are many who disbelieve the simple arithmetic of the impact of hedge fund style 2 and 20% fees on the division of the investment proceeds between investor and fund manager. As demonstrated, if 2 and 20 were applied to Warren Buffett's investment performance, over 90% of the eventual value of the fund would accrue not to the investor, but to the manager.

Ahead of the announcement of the Comprehensive Spending Review, Terry Smith states that “If you believe the propaganda emanating from The Guardian and the BBC you are no doubt expecting massive cuts to public spending”. “If so”, he says, “you will be disappointed.”

Terry Smith writes that the Volcker Rule is necessary because there will always be banking crises, the secret is to try and stop them from being fatal.

Terry Smith explains how the statue of Sir Keith Park should remind us of our links, and debt, to the Commonwealth.

Terry Smith gives his view on performance-linked bonuses and how the Financial Services ran straight into a firestorm of complaints when it published its draft code on remuneration in the financial services sector.

Terry Smith argues that the report on Current Issues Affecting the OTC Derivatives Market and its Importance to London makes for alarming reading, if one believes that politicians and regulators should approach the financial crisis as the medical profession would approach a sick patient: by diagnosing the illness and then prescribing treatment.

Terry Smith gives his views on the macro-economic environment in the UK ahead of Alistair Darling’s second budget.

Terry Smith states that there are some unpalatable facts which it is vital for the G20 leaders to understand if they are to tackle the financial crisis effectively.

Terry Smith gives his assessment on how the events of the Crunch, with a single weekend seeing Lehman Brothers and WAMU go bust, and Merrill Lynch forced to seek sanctuary with Bank of America, were of a scale never seen before.

Terry Smith comments on the unravelling of the financial crisis and the questions many want to ask: What is happening and why? Who is to blame? What can and should be done about it?