This week the world met WeWork founder Adam Neumann. The meeting did not go well. In recent months, WeWork had been preparing an initial public offering for its stock, and things seemed on track. But by the end of this week, the IPO had been shelved and Neumann was out of a job. The proximate [...]
The case of Conrad Seghers
In the summer of 2000, the Art Institute of Chicago fell under the spell of a young hedge fund manager named Conrad Seghers. The allure? Seghers claimed that his funds, called Integral, offered “the highest Sharpe ratios in the industry.” The Sharpe ratio is supposed to measure an investment's risk [...]
The value of alternatives
A few days ago the stock market again hit a new all-time high. But instead of feeling unalloyed glee, many investors seem to be struggling with mixed emotions. They are, of course, thrilled at their gains. But at the same time, they are hesitant to invest further into a market that has already [...]
King of Polka
If I told you the story of Jan Lewan, you might think I was making it up. Born in World War II-era Poland, Lewan emigrated to the United States and settled in rural Pennsylvania. Gregarious and musically gifted, Lewan soon achieved small-town fame as “The Polka King of Northeast Pennsylvania” and [...]
An uncomfortable question
A few years back, a fellow named Wylie Tollette faced some uncomfortable questions as he sat before the public oversight committee of the California Public Employees Retirement System (“CalPERS”). As the pension fund's Chief Operating Investment Officer, Tollette was responsible for updating the [...]
