When I started in the business, I worked for one of the biggest pension funds in the world. It was during the internet boom and it sure was fun on the way up, but not so much when the bubble popped. I remember my secretary Elizabeth would point out to me and my bosses that the market was down again and therefore her 401k was shrinking as well. They would say that they know but our hands were tied by mandate. We couldn't hold much cash because we were supposed to be fully invested at all times. This led to extremely stressful times as the tech bubble burst and our fund felt the pain in a big way. I felt like there had to be a better way to invest.
Luckily my father had the reputation for protecting his clients from the 1987 crash. It wasn't an accident as he researched hundreds of variables on what drove stock market cycles and developed a warning system along the way. He never wanted to tell a client that he lost money so he developed a discipline to protect his assets and his clients. He proved that 1987 was no fluke as he protected clients again in 2000 by avoiding tech stocks because valuations made no sense and in 2008 as financial earnings turned from massive profits to massive losses. I joined Runnymede in 2003 and have enjoyed learning from my dad. Asset protection is paramount to our investment philosophy and I can't imagine managing money any other way. Who would want to sit through a 50% drawdown in the market if it is avoidable? Not me and not our clients. While everyone is content with the market near all-time highs, we will be prepared to navigate through the next financial hurricane.
So thanks to Dad for teaching us about economic cycles and investing in the best! And more importantly Happy Birthday!
