Category Archives: Business

How to read the newspaper

As with many things, my comments and observations have been twisted beyond recognition, so for those who have heard a mis-interpretation of my actual words, I am publishing this article on my blog for all the world to see. There are a couple of people out there who will certainly recognize themselves out there, and a few who will certainly remember a couple of lively evenings ! Unfortunately vocabulary and personal attitudes can easily blind one from the ability to open one’s mind and enjoy the musings of others.

Arrogance comes in all shapes and sizes.

As of today’s date, we have been in a global financial recession for the last 4 years. Every day you open the newspaper and are virtually attacked by a variety of headlines, some researched, but many unfortunately, paid for. As newspapers are a business, they tend to conveniently omit to mention that many of the ‘articles’ or ‘headlines’ are in fact paid articles.   Disturbingly, many publishers don’t realize that they are contradicting themselves sometimes within the same section on the same day of the same newspaper.

“ABC Company’ closes an important deal in Illinois for $386 million, creating 1000 new jobs. Sounds absolutely wonderful doesn’t it??    However, several pages later in a thumbprint size notice, is a mention that the same company is laying off 1500 people. WHAT?  The reality is that for every ‘new job’ they create, they receive 37.5% of the first year’s salary from the Quebec Government, for ‘job creation’ . Net gain, minus 500 jobs. Appearance in the press, awesome. …. And as with many things, first appearances tend to sway those who aren’t really listening or paying attention, but are naïve enough to believe everything they either read or are told.

“XYZ Bank” just declares a loss of $650 million…..sounds horrible…….but buried on page 4 is a summary of their most recent acquisitions and write-downs. In fact, if one was to put the two articles together it was actually brilliant business……but unfortunately making a headline was more important for the junior reporter than doing his homework.

“Office space being hammered by the recession’ …yet once again, a few pages later, we read that premium office space is fully leased……so are we describing prime space, B space,  what exactly?   Hard to know…as the two  articles are totally contradictory.

I am not pinpointing any city, any newspaper in this commentary, as I happen to regularly purchase newspapers from London, New York, Toronto and Montreal not to mention no end of business and fashion magazines from around the world.  My observations are extremely broad, and what essentially I am saying, is that before you quote a fact gleaned from a newspaper, reference the source and the facts. Things are not always as they appear.

Open letter to L’office de la Langue Francais and our blind Quebec Politicians

Have any of you been to Ottawa or Toronto over the last few years?

Did you drive or simply fly on a government jet, be picked up in a limousine subsidized by the Quebec taxpayer, and taken directly to your destination?

Did you actually look out the window?

Did you SEE what is happening?

Did you actually pay attention, or was it just so much noise?

Did you see the skyline in Toronto?

Did you walk on the streets?

Did you hear the multitude of languages being spoken?

Did you see the International Big-Name designer shops lined up along Bloor Street, all full with paying clients, or notice that they are moving into larger and larger premises to accommodate the booming local market?

In looking out the windows from my corner unit on the 34th floor at the corner of Bay and Bloor, my view is increasingly blocked by the sea of mind-numbingly expensive condos being built on every street. Many start at the staggering amount of $6 million, and go up exponentially the higher the floor, and the larger the unit. There isn’t one, but a multitude of them, and more being started as far as you can see, and I can see for miles and miles in several directions, as I look out over the north and western parts of the city.
The city is awash with massive construction cranes, some areas such as the Harbourfront are wall to wall construction cranes and massive new towers.

Walking on the street in Montreal one hears what has to be some of the most appallingly spoken French in the world, yet we continue to pass restrictive laws to protect it, all the while, business is following the path of least resistance, and is heading to Toronto in droves, where it flourishes in a multitude of languages, without the constant cost and aggravation imposed by the ludicrous and restrictive language laws in Quebec. Why on earth should a Chinese company employing Chinese speaking people be legislated to do business in French because they employ over 50 people? Well, not in Toronto, they are open for business, and language is NOT an issue.

I am in Toronto monthly, and due to the nature of my business, find myself constantly in a new area of the city. Every time I am amazed at the exponential growth and wealth in the city. Coming back to Montreal all one sees is decaying bridges and roads.

The shops on Bloor are so populated at times, that they actually run out of stock of the ‘hot’ items, yet these same shops no longer have a presence at all in Montreal which speaks volumes as to the disappearance of wealth from the province.
Montreal used to be the Banking centre of Canada, and now all the head-offices have relocated to Toronto, not having to worry about protectionism, and free to do business. Instead of French, one goes to an ATM and sees Cantonese, Mandarin and a variety of other languages, to serve their clients, depending on the area of the city. It can just as easily be Portuguese as anything…

Tourists and residents in Quebec are treated poorly by surly public servants and obnoxious shop clerks who want to assert their right to speak French, yet don’t think that the person in front of them could be a wealthy tourist, or even better, a wealthy individual looking at the city with an eye of moving and investing in it, opening a business, creating jobs. This short-sighted behaviour has them all scurrying down the 401 to more pleasant climes, and cities that are ‘open for business’ regardless of the language. As the old adage goes, money talks and money walks, and it hasn’t just walked but run away from this province.

When is someone going to wake up and make Quebec a pleasant, happy, multilingual place to live and do business, where we encourage new business and innovation, without outrageous and outmoded language legislation?
Why can’t we follow the EU model, and have a population speaking 4 languages…..or even more….multilingualism certainly hasn’t harmed the hundred million or more people in the European Community….

Do you REALLY know how your employees represent your company to the outside world?

There appears to be a serious lack of interest in many Senior Executives in finding out exactly how their employees interact with the outside world.

A simple telephone call from a blocked phone and a series of questions to people in various departments will yield a fast and effective way of determining current attitudes.

How many times have your called  ‘customer service’ and had someone in a hurry try to get you off the phone?

Or the human resources clerk who doesn’t listen to what you say, screams that she is not interested in you, or worse, before you have said a thing says she has ‘preferred vendors’. That has become an oxymoron as it usually means she is doing business with her friends. If she speaks to a total stranger like that, with no knowledge of who they are, who they know or what they do, how on earth does she behave with employees who require assistance, or heaven forbid, come for an interview?

The receptionist who answers the phone with ‘one moment’ and puts you on hold for 5 minutes to listen to bad music, comes back on the line, says ‘one moment’ again, puts you BACK on hold, without any consideration of who you are or where you are calling from……if your call is costing a fortune per minute, it is highly unlikely they will get your business.

Does anyone actually want to do business with a company who is so totally disrespectful..?

Then, of course, is my favourite. The phone solicitor who, upon having a female answer the phone, berates her, insists in a rude voice that he needs to speak with the President, and who exactly does this pathetic person think she is to question him?    Over the years, this is something which has happened to me a lot, as I answer the phone regularly, at all sorts of weird times, and inevitably find myself with one of these ‘treasures’ on the other end of the line. The call usually goes something like this, ‘may I help you?’ ‘What can I do to help you?”  “Could you please tell me the purpose of the call?” As the caller gets ruder and ruder and more belligerent and eventually barks that he wants the name of the ‘rude’ receptionist he is speaking with as he is going to report her to management.

Hello?    Seriously?    He just called and is speaking to a total stranger like that as he tries to elicit information?   Really? What planet does he come from?

Does this type of intimidation really work?

As the President of the company, it certainly makes for some interesting conversations ,but also ensures that we log the name of the individual and the company and ensure that we and our friends do not do business with this firm. Any firm who hires people that arrogant and disrespectful will never get any referrals or business.

Or another one of my favourites, the rude, snarling clerk in a store at the check-out counter,  when you have the audacity to wish to pay for merchandise which in turn pays for her salary. I mean, really, disturbing her very important conversation with a co-worker and having the gall to want to pay when she is in the middle of a conversation?

Or then there is the one who dismisses you because she doesn’t think you can afford to purchase the merchandise she is selling.

Then, of course, there is the truly condescending clerk who sniffles at you, and asks if you have any idea what you are looking at, removes it from your hands, and replaces it on the counter, as if you couldn’t possibly appreciate such a valuable piece.

Naturally, in Quebec, there is the never-ending language debate which ensures many clerks feel that their right to speak French supersedes the right of the PAYING client to be addressed in their language as they are paying for merchandise. On a couple of occasions, I have actually witnessed clerks criticizing  English clients , in French,  about the fact that we are in Quebec and everyone should be speaking French, and that they should go elsewhere.  In my case, interestingly, my French is inevitably better than theirs, and they have no idea that I understand every word coming out of their mouths.

How on earth do these people have jobs?

How can the owners of these businesses continue to employ them?

Are management really that ignorant of what is going on in their businesses?

The exercise of client relations is to ensure that the client is served in such a positive fashion that they want to come back to your establishment, not to tell 10 friends to never set foot into the shop.

All this makes for interesting and amusing anecdotes, but if no one is paying attention,  the competition is waiting out there with a smile on their face and multilingual staff to take your cash in a pleasant fashion.



 

Answer the %^& phone!

We certainly live in interesting times.

On one hand, we have a generation of people walking around with mobile phones glued to their heads or texting incessantly – from their cars, restaurants, meetings, the office and even from their bedrooms – in order to feel ‘connected’ to the outside world, to the extent that it has become incredibly rude, as these same people are not answering their business phones or emails with the excuse that they are ‘too busy.

It has become a common complaint among business people, they are all  discussing the incredible rudeness which is permeating society, and people who  somehow consider themselves to be too important to return phone calls.  The joke being, that most of the time, these are the very same people who were long gone from the office by 5pm, and who don’t return emails or  telephone calls at night or on the weekend either.

What are they doing at home which is so important? Watching the latest reality TV show?

But whose to say….

How can someone decide the importance of a call without extending the common courtesy to the caller by actually ringing them back?

Unless the caller has left a detailed message suggesting that there are two options of calling back or not, even then it is good manners to return the call. The recipient, in not returning the call, is behaving in a totally rude and disrespectful manner to the caller – after all, they took the time to call you, and made the effort to find out your details prior to making the call.

We are all bombarded by tele marketeers, however, even in that case, sometimes one can be pleasantly surprised by the nature of the call, and can’t assume to know the subject of the call.

If in fact it is someone tiresome, then tell them politely you are not interested and to please remove your name from their list. Under the law, they are obliged to do so.

I just finished a telephone call with a client who added that people are also complaining a lot about unanswered emails. Although it is not the subject of today, it is equally important to note.

This lady is a Vice President in an R & D company, developers are complaining that their emails are not being responded to by their superiors. If they have to bring a product to market which is beneficial to the entire company’s health, this is not acceptable. They are supposed to be working as a cohesive team.

One funny anecdote which I can happily share is about a gentleman who sells Mutual Funds. He has been calling me for years, and I will never buy his products. However, he has always been excruciatingly polite and pleasant, so I always take his calls. A couple of years ago he called me and his tone was one of glee, he was giggling about having received a VIP invitation from a hardware vendor for a posh lunch in a good restaurant in a boutique hotel in Old Montreal, and they had even included a sample menu…….it was amazing ……he was calling to invite me, stating that he felt that I was probably the one who should go, and inviting me as his guest…..he said that as I had always been so pleasant on the phone, he thought of me and extended the invitation. Yes indeed, I went with him, the guest list was incredible, I was able to network with a lot of very senior industry executives, the food was divine, the company entertaining, and altogether a lovely occasion.

Had I been rude to this man, or assumed what he wanted, I would have missed out.

I was recently involved in the planning and organizing of a party in a private club  for some of Montreal’s elite. Company presidents, lawyers,  judges, Senior Politicians, Doctors, and a sprinkling of artists.

It is obvious to me why the guests are successful, they all return their phone calls promptly, many of them apologizing if the return call takes over 24 hours.

So, what is it with low-level managers that they somehow think they are too important and too busy to return a call?

In my case, I could be calling for a reference, a technical question, a conference, a fund-raiser, or the job-opportunity of a lifetime..how would they ever know?

So dear reader, what category do you fall into?

We are all busy, it is simply a matter of etiquette….and never assuming that you know the reason for someone else’s phone-call.

Enjoy this article? Tell your friends, and listen to Roslyn as the guest discussing this at :  blogtalkradio.com/mentisor

 

The Demise of “Nice”

In an age when one’s public image seems to be overly important, it is fascinating to observe the sheer numbers of people who along the way have lost all sense of courtesy and the ability to recognize or appreciate someone who is genuinely ‘nice’.
People with good manners are being treated as ‘weak’ to the extent that some kind and gentle souls are being mocked in public and spoken of as doormats for the simple crime of being nice.

There are no end to the number of self aggrandizing bullies out there who are rude, arrogant, and publicly dismiss others without even the most modest knowledge of who they are. They seem to feel that unless they are like them, constantly bragging about who they are, who they know, and what they do, then the others are of no value. They gossip, insult people with no reason, and  interrogate people publicly in order to ‘put them down’ . Nothing worse than a group of aspiring ‘socialites’ who have the audacity to think they can decide who is ‘in’ and who is ‘out’. Ironically, most of the same socialites who are living off the largesse of their husbands who pay for the designer clothes, memberships in posh clubs, and pay for their meals in expensive restaurants. Their ego’s are so far out there, and attitude towards others who have not married quite as well as them, that they forget they are only the ‘wives of’ and not the actual successful individual. Even when their husbands decide they have had enough of being married to a bitch, and ditch them for someone younger and kinder, these individuals continue along the same path of criticism and condescension.

We hear people constantly complaining about the younger generation’s lack of common sense and good manners, but unfortunately it seems to cross all socio-economic paths, and has exploded to a point that the pendulum is about to switch sides.

Employers are now actually seeking individuals with ‘soft skills’, ie, the ability to work in a team, and to be able to cross all levels in an organisation. Potential hires are being taken out to meals in restaurants so that their manners in public can be measured. If they are rude with the help staff, then it goes without saying that they will be rude to underlings. If they have no table manners, they have no manners.

When a gentleman holds the door open for a ‘lady’, the correct response is ‘thank you’, however, for some bizarre reason, some women actually snarl at the men that they ‘can open their own *&^ door’

Sending a ‘Thank You’ note to some socialites seems to provoke mockery.

Saying ‘Please’, ‘Thank You’, and ‘I Beg your Pardon’ seems to illicit some people to be intolerably rude.

Peer pressure on girls who are teenagers or in their low twenties to be promiscuous, strangely enough, by other girls their own age, who are promiscuous, forces them to have low self esteem ,which is ludicrous. Since when is being loose the sign of being a loser?!!

From shop clerks who spend hours admiring themselves in the mirror fussing with their hair or lipstick, speaking or texting on mobile phones, cashiers who chat with one another while clients are 5 deep in queues, service staff who are intolerably rude, bullies on the playground or work, receptionists who leave the phone ringing incessantly while they chat with their friends, people interrogating others to see if they are ‘important enough’, people out in restaurants texting while ignoring their hosts, good manners and ‘nice’ seem to have momentarily been displaced.

But don’t fear, manners have always been in fashion, and they are coming back with a vengeance.  Nice is appreciated by people who are nice,
And increasingly by those who are tired of being spoken down to.

Nice is never really out of fashion. 

SERVICE Industry

Let me once again re-iterate the word SERVICE. That means the service of your customers or potential customers, You know, those people who pay your salary.

One of the most common complaints today, is with the voice dripping with condescension on the other end of the line when one calls to make a reservation in a pricey restaurant. First, you are put on hold, then told they are incredibly busy and will be back in a moment, then the breathless ‘hello’ as if your time is of no interest or value to them. The negotiation as to the time and day the restaurant will deem to allow you into it’s hallowed halls to pay for overpriced, over spiced food. One must wonder what exactly goes through the head of these individuals. One trendy fusion Asian-French Restaurant kept us on the phone waiting for well over 10 minutes to make a simple reservation. No, 8pm wasn’t acceptable, but 8:45 was, but a lecture to tell us that we must absolutely arrive on time. We arrived early on the appointed night, to discover an amazingly pretentious greeter, a half-empty restaurant, good tables which were empty, terrible tables full, an attitude when we suggested that we didn’t want the assigned table, and mind-numbingly slow bad service. By 10pm the restaurant was 3/4 empty. The staff spent the entire evening fussing and preening themselves in front of the mirrors, and actually complaining about the clients. The food was totally unimaginative, the setting a very poor rip-off of a well known London Restaurant, prices over the moon, a grotesquely over-priced and not exciting wine list, and washrooms which weren’t the cleanest or most interesting off in Siberia. Furthermore, I can’t possibly imagine how someone older and not totally mobile was expected to be able to reach them- up stairs, around a corner, down a corridor. Forget wheelchair access.

Somehow, it is assumed that if you can afford to frequent these trendy restaurants, that you aren’t stupid. Obviously one must be intelligent enough to have worked for the cash in your pocket. What on EARTH are these people thinking? That clients are stupid and blind and we can’t see that with all your advertising everywhere, that your restaurant is half empty and all the staff seem to care about is their own image?

The same things apply with ‘Customer Service’ desks in shops, banks and government departments. How many times have you reached the counter only to have a rude employee look over you as if you are invisible, put a sign on the wicket and walk away, even though you are the only one in the queue. You are then expected to wait for 30-70 minutes while they either go on ‘break’ or for lunch. Forgetting that your time is also of value, and presumably you took time off work to be there. Spending the 5 minutes serving you would not have been such a hardship for them. And the polite response that you are the last one before they go for their ‘break’ or lunch.

The endless being put on hold on telephone ‘Customer Service’ lines, to wait over 20 minutes sometimes, only to have someone from half way around the world with a bad accent, who doesn’t understand two thirds of what you say, is rude, and finally hangs up on you because they don’t want it to appear that they couldn’t answer your question.

If you are being paid to provide a service, smile, provide the service, THANK your customer, they are the ones paying your salary, and then move on to the next. If you are having a bad day, don’t blame it on the people paying your wages.

Somehow there seems to be a common thread – treat your clients like ignorant children and think they will flock to continue to do business with you. With the internet today, word tends to get around at the speed of light. One has to pity the investors in some of these ventures, as they are usually not aware of how poorly the clients are treated. With all the social networking services available both on mobile phones and the internet, it is seconds today from being in business to being ruined. Companies should remind their ‘Customer Service’ Representatives about this fact.

On-Line Business

Sometimes one feels like they are in a world gone mad.

With the explosion of ebusiness, a lot of companies seem to be under the absolutely ludicrous impression that everyone is always on-line, and wishes to conduct all their business that way. Some twenty-something teckie who is in love with the idea of technology has convinced management that the only way to do business is on-line, and it will solve all their problems. There are a terrifying number of airlines, shops, banks and other service companies who appear to have forgotten why they were in business in the first place. In a word, giving SERVICE to their CLIENTS.

Do they really expect the silver-haired octogenarian to conduct her business on-line? The infirmed? To book airline tickets, do their banking, and deal with problems by accessing a computer? As some of the modern telephones are intimidating enough, never mind being told by a recorded voice that if you have a problem, ‘you can contact us on line at ‘ www.noservice.com’ or ‘we’re too important to speak to you on the telephone.com’ or ‘we don’t care about you.com’ and being incapable of actually finding a human being to speak to.

Computers are a truly wonderful creation, I’ve spent most of my career working in the computer industry, and am enthralled by the level of imagination in the field. From voice recognition, 3D animation, robotics , aircraft simulators for pilot training, complete with cockpits which actually move, microscopic surgery, and artificial limbs, the uses of technology are advancing daily, and most of it at the click of a mouse. However, companies must understand that not everyone wishes to live through the use of technology, nor does everyone think with the logic of a computer. Some people are visual, some auditory, others tactile, some mathematical, and others just plain lonely. Never underestimate the value of a live human voice. No automated system can ever replace the sound of the words,
‘can I help you with something? Is everything ok?”

Although I work in the industry, and am extremely savvy to the uses of technology, as it happens I am also someone who does NOT wish to conduct my personal business on-line. And it is interesting to note, that there a great number of people like myself, who have decided that if a company does not wish to speak with me in person in order to obtain my custom, then I will probably not be doing business with them.

So, next time you decide to automate a customer service function, try asking the clients what they think about the idea first.

Clients pay your salary and your rent. They should have a voice. The old expression ‘money talks and money walks’ should be remembered. Do something original.
ASK.!

Preferred Vendors: Competition and Kickbacks

Are you the CEO or CIO of a publicly traded company?

Then you want to read this blog and think seriously about it means to you.

Over the last few years there has been a move by certain companies to reduce the number of suppliers as a way to save money and simplify the purchase process. Along the way a great number of excluded companies have seen their opportunity to propose innovative solutions decline as they have been unable to respond to “members only” RFPs (request for proposals). We have heard no end of excuses in the marketplace as to why this is a good idea. However, the reality is that it removes competition and introduces opportunities for dishonest employees to show favouritism to suppliers who claim to be offering better prices based upon ‘partnership’ or volume-based price reduction.

How can anyone determine if they are getting the best product if they are eliminating any chance for competition? Even if you manage to short-list the top ten best vendors in the market today, by tomorrow there will be another company born that offers superior solutions.

A quick review of today’s media makes evident that during the current recession there are thousands of individuals who have taken their know-how and created new opportunities. Economists recognize that start-ups and small companies are the engine that drives economic recovery and economic growth, which benefits everyone including large corporations. In a phrase, their growth is your growth. So why not include them more directly in your success?

But even more pernicious effects are resulting from the restrictive preferred vendor list and the close vendor-client relationships that ensue. A level of out–right fraud has escalated in recent years to a point where it is no longer a matter of accepting a free lunch or two. Every day one reads about another scheme where some ‘highly innovative’ individual has found a way to work around the system and walk away with substantial ill-gotten gains. There are middle level managers in large corporations who earn very average wages driving new Mercedes, owning country homes, going on lavish holidays and drinking fine bottles of wine.

And how have they arrived at this unearned lifestyle? After skilful positioning and self promotion about how they are saving the enterprise vast sums of money by reducing the number of suppliers and negotiating significant discounts, their actions are no longer scrutinized leaving them free to personally benefit in any way they can arrange. Ironically, in many cases the same companies are insisting that new employees have extensive background checks and police file verification prior to being hired.

Examples of preferred vendor policy effects and “under-the-table” transactions abound; here are just a few:

1. An approved vendor representative conducts special meetings at a strip bar where cash stuffed envelopes are dispensed to his ‘best’ clients.

2. An middle-level executive of a large corporation has an $80,0000 golf club membership, has gone cruising in the Greek Isles with his family, played golf in Florida, and is regularly taken out for lavish meals to thank him for his “patronage”. A preferred vendor list decision was made once and his employer has never questioned vendor invoices since.

3. A middle manager, after ‘streamlining’ the number of suppliers to his department, miraculously went from living in a modest home to inhabiting a million dollar mansion with an in-ground pool, period antiques, and a new Mercedes, not to mention taking amazing golf trips during the winter.

4. A multi-million dollar contract is awarded. A few days later five executives receive shipment from a local art dealer of signed, large, gilt-framed, original art work. After a week on the walls, the art, being recognized as far too valuable and obvious, is removed to the homes of the executives.

5. A handful of people in a very large multi-national have eliminated most of the suppliers to its technology initiatives, initiatives which count in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Although some middle managers question the economic benefit of such an approach, they nevertheless adhere to the ‘initiatives’ under threat of losing their jobs during the recession. No employee is willing to step forward and challenge why, in such a large corporation, with such diverse needs, they are not allowed to have contact or do business with those not on the restrictive ‘approved’ list. Kickback rumours abound, morale is low, and the department is operating well below its capability. The hidden intimidation is unethical at the very least, the threats to whistle-blowers very real, and the productivity impact incalculable.

Within the supplier community, the facts are obvious. In fact, they are openly discussed and the perpetrators well known. In many cases even the “kickback” amounts are discussed freely. The only people who seem to be totally unaware of this behaviour are executives in corporations where this behaviour occurs.

As a responsible executive you should ask yourself:

1. Is anyone in my organization guilty of this behaviour?
2. When is the last time we did a ‘lifestyle’ audit on those individuals making substantial purchasing decisions?
3. Do I believe that the new million dollar home that my employee purchased is due to an inheritance … from a rich aunt?
4. Can I really afford to have this illegal behaviour occur on my watch?

Simple First Steps (RCE)

Rotate Personnel: Individuals who make major purchasing decisions should be rotated on a regular basis. If the same people occupy these roles for too long, it is just too tempting for them to accept the gifts on offer.

Conduct Internal Audits: Unannounced, fully authorized, and executive committee supported internal audits should be SOP.

Expand the Vendor List: Open up the bidding process to more competition. The innovative ideas and cost containment may surprise you and will please your stakeholders.

“Unintended consequences” and “collateral damage” are two phases that came to this blogger’s mind when researching this article. In an era of increased regulatory oversight, think about the consequences of a corporate policy that could place you in the cross-hairs.

Copyright 2009 roslyn-on-the-go

Too Good to be True

Every day we read about another Ponzi scheme which was sold to unsuspecting individuals for amazing amounts of money by self proclaimed “Investment Advisors”. Some of the sums of money, such as in the case of Bernard Madoff, are truly staggering. To have absconded with $65 billion is, to me, inconceivable. Mark Dreier who is only in the hundreds of millions looks like small change in comparison.

In Montreal there is the story of ‘Uncle Earl’ who spent somewhere in the $75 million range of other people’s money living the lavish life, never once thinking that this money actually was not his, but he, of them all in recent times is the one who is the most despicable. To be chasing after widows and old women for their total assets, including visiting them in the hospital to convince them to give him their money, sometimes on their deathbeds, goes beyond words.

The big question is, what is it about human nature that makes one so gullible as to invest such substantial sums of money with only one money manager. We are always instructed to spread the money around, as history has shown us, things are not always what they appear, and they best way to protect oneself is to invest comfortable sums of money in numerous places.

Over the years we have heard of some stunning stories, which leave readers with their mouths agape, of the deceit and cunning used to separate normally intelligent people from their money, the only difference being this time around, that the sums are greater than we have ever heard of before, and the utter gall of the perpetrators to live such openly lavish lives knowing there is no way the money could ever be repaid. How could they possibly expect that they would not be caught?

This note to the blog is short and sweet, and a simple message for all of you, spread your investments around. Do not let anyone convince you that they know better than everyone else. If the market is at 6% and someone offers you 18%, you should question the investment, and question whether or not they are a licensed investment counsellor. Check and see if there any complaints about the person or the firm. Don’t, above all ,allow anyone to bully you about how you should invest your money, and if they do, run.

If someone brags too much about their success, probably it is only in their imagination. Like anything else, usually it is the ones who are bragging who are in fact NOT successful. The ones who truly are, don’t need to brag, they already know.

Ethics ……or lack thereof……..

I recently had a long conversation with a merchant banker who  requested information about a certain company. He was told that their  business practices are unethical, bordering on fraudulent. An example was given, and he suggested that next time he had the opportunity, he  would speak with the Chairman in confidence about it. He was  immediately informed that not only did the Chairman know about these  practices, but that he blessed them.

We are discussing a publicly traded company, on the verge of a major  stock play. Certain members of the executive team stand to walk away  with tens of millions …..

The will to bank millions was too great and he lined his pockets,  knowing full-well that there were many small shareholders who would be  losing out. Sarbanes Oxley and Bill 198 were passed to stop these  practices…but unfortunately there are too few to risk blowing the  whistle and not capitalizing personally.

It will be a very frightening day when the pendulum starts to swing in  the other direction, and the minor shareholders decide that they are  ‘not going to take it anymore’