Financial Advisors, Not a troll Options

[Cheops]

Financial brokerage and advisory firms make great sources of Johnsons for shadow work. Industrial espionage can give a HUGE advantage to the firm and by using deniable assets they can maintain that arm's length relationship. Not to mention the ability to gimp other firms' IPOs or M&A pitches.

And when you factor in that one of Seattle's largest investment firms is also owned by a Humanis bigot that is leading the Gubernatorial election things just get more interesting... :D

[Darkwalker]

The simple reason most financial advisors don't make money on their own:

+ The very informations they gather are often considered Insider Information and they are therefor prohibited on trading in on them

+ They don't have the initial money they need and no credit rating to start with initially

+ They lack the time having a job that corrosponds nicely with the stock exchange times and are not permitted private trades

Just an example: I am working software for German SEC-style Insider Trading Rules Checking. During my work I have a remote chance to get some Insider data by looking into the system DB. So I am under a full Compliance check meaning:

+ I must send the bank information on ANY stock exchange trade I do
+ I have an actual account in the system as an employee (I am not with the bank)
+ Any trade outside fonds trades I would do (not that I do trade in stocks) is entered in the system and checked.

Same for the employees of the department. Since basically any restricted paper of the bank is restricted to the department members, they can't do much speculative trade.

[Snow_Fox]

sorry I'm late to this but as a licenced financial planner I can give some insight to real world and Sr world.

In real life, as has been said, many people find finances complex. If they trust someone to handle their money it's something they don't have to spend a thought on. In game terms we know we can buy a lifestyle but do you give any thought to it. Does anyone here actually think Britney Spears can handle her perported $125,000,000 net worth? How about the go ganger without a hs education that buys a medium or high lifestyle. Think they're going to keep track of mortgage payments? Think they want to? (whoa had to edit this for to much industry shorthand.)

It's been said they can be the people behind Johnsons. True enough looking for details or maybe trying to set the market to their needs- the way in Casino Royale le Chiffre tried to drive down the stock of the airline corp.

Or maybe find out who was behind something but there is another side to it. As DLN pointed out, we can be information brokers for runners and provide plot exposition to maybe explain something they don't get.

Let me give you an example of insider knowledge. I am SOOO not going to mention company names. As has already been detailed here and in the media this is possibly trouble and I love my freedom and my licences too much but:
When a mutual fund closes it doesn't go out of business. It just stops selling shares. Usually this is in a bad market or if a fund has grown too fast and the fund manager is looking to stabilize/protect the returns for existing clients. The RL Vanguard group is pretty common with this. (And no I don't work for them) If people can buy into a fund before it closes, they will see the price shoot up in the mad scramble. That's why funds often don't announce they are closing before they do or you get a rush of investors that creates the situation you wanted to avoid.
So you find out a fund is planning to close-investment option.
BUT
suppose you find that fund A, which everyone thinks is going to close, is negoiating with MCT to sell shares through a brokerage account. They wouldn't be wasting time setting up that deal if the fund was going to close, that's just logical, Why set up a deal to sell something you're closing so you can't sell it? But with people thinking it is, and you find out about the pending deal-you're ahead of the curve.
you can all see the extrapolations for runs here.

For my work, I enjoy talking to people. hearing what their plans are and their hopes. The trick is to get their fears and set realistic time lines as well so you can avoid setting them up with risky ventures. For example I advice an 80 something about a plan that should mature in 10-15 years, it would be unethical beyond belief. You need to explain to the client that you are looking out for them and their interests. More than once I've looked at a client who wants to know if they can do something and I will stress that the bottom line is "Sure it's your money" and they seem surprised that I view it that way. Makes me angry at who ever they dealt with before me.

Usually i pay attnetion to the news and small details so they don't have to and weird minuetea can make the differnece. I worked for a fund manager about 5 years ago who dumped all her Kodak stocks just before it tanked. EWveryone thought she was a genius who had great insight. what she admitted to me was that her husband borught home a digital camera as a toy. She looked at it and realized "we're never going to buy another roll of film again. Crap! that's Kodak's bread and butter." That isn't isdier knowledge, it's just good observation.

My favorite question is when we start a session with being told "I want something with low risk and high return." I usually smile and reach into my brief case or desk draw and declare "Sure I've got that special lucky charm fund that no one else wants just for you." 99 times out of 100 they get the joke, smile and we can have a serious discussion. That 1 in a 100 who doesn't think it's funny, well he soo would not appreciate my humor anyway it's best to get it out of the way.
I love it when a client says "You are such a pain in the ass, but you're worth it."

[Wounded Ronin]

[Snow_Fox]

ooo- I was looking for someone to pay for my Swiss vacation this year! :D

[Wounded Ronin]