Wall Street Titans Hit by Recent Volatility

Jim Steffen |
Categories
investing
stock market

With US stocks off over 10% (as measured by the S&P500[1]) from their all-time highs reached in May, perhaps you’re wondering how the big-dogs are doing.  You may be surprised.   

After the significant market volatility in late August, a Wall Street Journal columnist highlighted how even the biggest asset managers in the industry weren’t able to avoid the broad decline.  The article can be found here:

http://www.wsj.com/articles/hedge-funds-bruised-by-stocks-meltdown-1440631692

Among the Wall Street giants who suffered significant losses in August include (in no particular order):

  1. Leon Cooperman
  2. Raymond Dalio
  3. Daniel Loeb
  4. William Ackman
  5. Nelson Peltz
  6. David Einhorn

If you don’t follow financial news, you’ve probably never heard of any of these people.  But take my word for it, these names represent some of the most successful and powerful individuals on Wall Street (all are on the Forbes 400 list); collectively overseeing hundreds of billions in assets. 

A number of these individuals and their firms experienced losses in excess of 10% in August alone.  Some are down double digits for the entire year.

I share this article with you to emphasize that successful investing is not about side-stepping market declines.  They are part of the game, and as demonstrated here, not even the most successful people on Wall Street are able to avoid them (yet still do well over time).  

 

Legal Information and Disclosures

Securities and advisory services offered through LPL Financial, a registered investment advisor, member FINRA/SIPC.  Trott Brook Financial and LPL Financial are separate companies. 

The information provided here is for education purposes only and should not be used for any other purpose.  Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

[1]The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index is a capitalization weighted index of 500 stocks designed to measure performance of the broad domestic economy through changes in the aggregate market value of 500 stocks representing all major industries.