Yesterday I had the opportunity to have lunch with and listen to Scott Patterson, author of “The Quants” in a group setting here in Dallas.
While I have not read the book, Scott, who also is a reporter for the Wall Street Journal, and a very shy gentleman, mentioned many interesting points concerning the roots of Quantitative mathematicians and their influence on the capital markets. Some favorite places for Quants to operate in the markets, in Scott’s opinion, are in the fixed income arena. Quants original place in the capital markets, to provide liquidity, may have gone too far, and may be contributing to much of the dramatic movement over the past few years, and most recent days, again in Scott’s opinion.
Later in the evening, through the CFADFW (CFA Society of Dallas Fort Worth), which my tenure as president is almost over, I
attended a function that included Ethics discussions concerning the investment community, with a special guest speaker from the Fort Worth Office of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Most of you who know our firm understand the importance we place on ethical behaviour and ethics within the industry. An interesting observation in the meeting last night, were the large number of younger, future investment professionals, asking terrific questions and somewhat criticizing recent events. The future looks very bright for all of us if the actions fall in line with many of the questions from last night.
Have a Good Day!
JK