Beauty of wealth management

THE ALCHEMIST

Crispin Odey, in his headline-grabbing way, has announced a foray into the world of wealth management, declaring in an excited press release the current crop of wealth managers is "bloated".

Depicting himself as a sort of avenging knight charging on lazy and ineffectual firms, he “called the end” for the high fees and poor service. Bravo! What a claim, and from a garlanded nobleman of the hedge fund world. But on a nanosecond’s reflection, it is clear Odey is just the latest in a series of big names newly fascinated by a sector that for years has been so far beneath them as to be almost invisible. When times are good, these firms are so busy harvesting mega-institutional mandates and swelling their assets under management that those any less gilded are of supreme disinter...