What's Behind That Door

In the spirit of the holidays, let’s keep this one short.

Jason Zweig: “You’re Invited to Wall Street’s Private Party. Say You’re Busy.”

There are few people I respect more than Jason Zweig, who writes for the Wall Street Journal. Jason is one of the most consistent and devoted advocates for the American investor in the land.

In his piece from December 20, 2024, Jason warns that when Wall Street offers investors of all stripes the opportunity to invest “with the big boys,” maybe just maybe you should stop and ask: What’s in it FOR THEM?

Jason’s opening paragraph sums it up well:

“Hold on to your wallet. Wall Street is gearing up for a sales push that could enrich the middlemen and impoverish you.

I’m talking about private or alternative assets—investments outside the public stock and bond markets. In the right hands, these assets work wonders. In the wrong hands, they wreak havoc.”

Jason quoted me near the end of the piece. This felt like a rare honor, even more so because the topic is fundamentally important to understanding incentives in asset management.

Speaking of incentives…

Connecting the Dots, Crypto Edition.

Even shorter…

Let’s pretend you’re the largest asset manager in the world.

Let’s also pretend that you launched a Bitcoin ETF a few months ago.

And then this month, you issue a report that says some version of “maybe 2% portfolio allocation to Bitcoin is a reasonable.”

The world interprets this as proof that “the establishment” is legitimizing crypto in investor portfolios.

Maybe…

Whatever you think about crypto, just remember they have a Bitcoin ETF to sell you.

Incentives matter. They always have and always will…

What’s Behind That Door.

In this season of celebrating miracles, I sincerely believe that friendships are one of the closest things to a miracle that humans perform.

Let me give you an example.

One of my closest friends sent me this meme. I thought it was brilliant.

What do you do with memes you like? You share them with other friends… So I did.

Another friend of mine saw something in there that completely changed the way I look at this picture.

She said: “Let’s DESIGN what’s behind that door.”

I think that’s brilliant too.

None of that happens without those two friends.

So here are my best wishes for 2025.

I wish you meaningful friendships and the will to design what’s behind that door.