Fame – the greatest credit

What’s wrong with the way we look at the world? If someone were to offer you an option whilst browsing the web of clicking on a link to read more about the latest discovery of water on Saturn’s moon by some of the greatest scientific minds on earth, or the revelation that Miranda Kerr is indeed interested in “exploring other options” in her sexual life, well…I guess you’re already reading the latter and ogling those pictures! Fine, maybe not an entirely fair experiment as Ms. Kerr is an exceptionally attractive woman (to both sexes it would appear) but the point is that most of today’s media hungry society are incredibly interested and enthralled in the lives and machinations of others rather than comprehending and exploring some of the universe’s deepest secrets. Things have gone wrong.

Fame and the cult-of-the-celebrity have pervaded most aspects of daily life. We digest our news and breakfast cereal watching pleasing-to-the-eye and known news anchors, gravitate towards web pages and blogs of the best-known (if not most cerebral nor understanding) names in respective businesses and seek solace in the antics of “celebs” with nothing more to do in their wonderfully socially-additive-lives (errr.. please read that with a tinge of irony) than show up at the opening of the latest “Just Falafel” store dressed as if they were partaking in the Miss Chick-Pea bikini competition…Oh how it can get messy when that tahini drips all over.

Ok..there’s very little wrong with the voyeuristic and vicarious enjoyment derived from such celebs, little harm can come of it – apart from the odd fashion faux-pas fad here or there being replicated (way too many tattoos and Miley-twerking going-on people), often innocent and pleasing to the masses..watching Royal baby George bundled down the steps..but something more disruptive and detrimental can begin to emerge from this seeming blind-devotion and incorrect tunnel-vision attributed to the “credibility” of those exposed in the media.

Whilst it certainly pays to be bandied about with inundating PR and marketing (the ever articulate Oscar Wilde pointing out more clairvoyantly than he may have imagined, that “the only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about”) there are instances where the illusion of omnipotence and authority, with often inaccurate information being passed off as supposedly intelligent personal sound-bites…becomes an issue when looking at the modern financial system.

Too many investors (like young teenagers staring a-gawk at their latest oft-fabricated Bieber-like crushes) fall for the charms and carefully constructed allure of the big-name investors. Any cursory glance at the current fund investment landscape and private equity world displays an incredible bias towards the big-name firms… Blackrock, Fidelity, Putnam, Carlyle, KKR, Blackstone..yeah..you know them all. The world’s three largest pension fund-managers control more than 40% of assets and the top five private equity firms annually share 70% of newly invested assets. The lasting causal link between these major players and their huge devoted followers is quite simple – in each instance there is a larger-than-life protagonist heading the firm.  

So even in the subjectively glamorous world of finance – only some would consider a x4.5 multiple-of-money over 4 years excitingly more attractive than another Kanye-Kardashian revelation, and a good thing too! - the “cult-of-the-celebrity” has firmly taken hold. With some simple investigation though, diversifying away from the big-names is often the best way to ensure outsized returns. Following-the-herd and blindly entrusting your hard-earned assets (ok, not so hard for some desert dwelling SWFs) does not always pay-off. This cursory examination of the best-known funds, Private Equity players and certain “famous” investment managers provides good evidence for diversification away from the allure of the celebrity - just look at PIMCO.

With all these boisterously colourful characters (am thinking Mr. Bonderman here..yeehaaa!) market theory dictates that there will be winners and loser. The interesting dichotomy we are witnessing in our franticly paced day, is a tellingly-Shadenfreude-like visceral enjoyment in the lofty falling to the bottom of the heap. Wow..like a pack of waiting vultures, the minute one of our “celebs” stumbles and falls, the feeding frenzy commences with frightening glee. Think about that for a moment and realize just how simple that makes us?..the mob frenzy akin to the burning of ancient cities and the downfall of once “revered” emperors and Caesars has never left us, simply it has shifted to the frighteningly more instantly destructive Twitter.  

Why exactly is it that winners are now hated by the losers?..is there too much protection for the weak at school or something? No one gets bullied anymore..does this removal of thick-skin provide some sense of evil if you win? What’s wrong with winning? The problem once again is the cult-of-the-celebrity. Instead of society heaping deserved praise and emphasis on the great contributors to society like scientists and cutting-edge astrologists, biologists and economists, focus is on the less-qualified that make-it-too-easily and then go about spending it with equal levels of ostentatious “intelligence” – when was the last time you picked up a copy of the Daily Mail and seen a bunch of nerds celebrating their latest Hadron Collider success at Loulou’s with a bevvy of beautiful models? Hmm..maybe those inspirational smarty-pants under Switzerland should do exactly that one in a while!

At least the nerdy protagonists of the Big Bang Theory are loveable and popular but let’s be honest shall we?...most of us started watching it for Penny - the hot blonde. Human emotive simplicity triumphs once more. We are impressed with the less impressive these days, concerned with the less concerning and losing touch with what has made us truly great in years gone by. Luckily we have enough visionary and altruistic individuals (the “Moon-Shot” entrepreneurs spring to mind) working on our behalf to ensure we will one day inspire ourselves to reach for more than another look at that deliciously single..oops..Ms Kerr.