Gosling's Grouse: Stranger than fiction

Too close to reality

'The question is: what are you in it for?' This is not a line from The Wolf of Wall Street or some such film, but one posed to me by the former head of Henderson's multi-manager team Bill McQuaker and his now head of research colleague Paul O'Connor.

I say it is not a line from a film, but I did retort to the pair that perhaps there should be CPD points available for seeing films like that (or The Big Short). So what is The Big Short about? It is about not believing the consensus - just because everyone thinks it, it does not mean it will happen or it is true. Witness the past five years: most people have been predicting a strong correction in bond markets. Of course, rates have not risen and we now begin to ask ourselves what is normal? And the lessons from The Wolf? If you enter financial markets purely for the short term to mak...