Big Winner

The Bank Lawyer’s blog has a post including anonymous comments from the Chief Investment Officer of a big bank.

His comments are:

Banks acquired since the IRS tax law change and the TARP passage (i.e., Wachovia, Sovereign Bancorp and National City) were severely impaired, and very large. Their collective deposits totaled $600 billion, 32 times the deposit base of IndyMac, an institution which is already putting pressure on the under-funded FDIC Insurance Fund; I wonder what Schumer and Frank think the alternatives were. When healthy banks buy weak ones and maintain the acquired bank’s pace of lending instead of the FDIC shrinking it after a seizure, that’s a positive by-product of consolidation.

It’s an interesting insider view of the ongoing monumental changes in the financial industry.

Link:
The Bailout’s “Pacman Effect”

The Academy of Achievement site has a number of interviews with successful businesspeople who reached the pinnacle of their professions.

Some of the featured interviewees include:
* Jeff Bezos, Founder of Amazon.com
* Steve Case, Co-Founder of AOL
* Michael Dell, Founder & Chairman of Dell Computer Corporation
* Michael Eisner, Former CEO of Disney
* Larry Ellison, Founder of Oracle
* Jeong Kim, President of Bell Labs
* James Kimsey, Founding Chairman of AOL
* Henry Kravis, Billionaire Investor
* Craig McCaw, Telecommunications Billionaire
* Pierre Omidyar, Founder of eBay
* Larry Page, Co-Founder of Google
* Stephen Schwarzman, Chairman/CEO of The Blackstone Group
* Carlos Slim, Billionaire Businessman
* Frederick Smith, Founder of Federal Express
* Martha Stewart, Founder of Martha Stewart Living
* Ted Turner, Founder of CNN
* Sanford Weill, Former Chairman/CEO of Citigroup

Link:
Academy of Achievement: The Hall of Business

The Acumen Fund focuses on social entrepreneurship and is one of the top nonprofits in the world today. Brian Trelstad, Chief Investment Officer of the Fund, recently came to NYU to offer a sample case study to educate MBA students on how the Fund evaluates potential investments.

Some of the points he emphasized were:
* Focusing on social impact initially to screen companies, and then evaluating potential profitability
* Utilizing the BACO (Best Alternative Charitable Option) approach to determine if the money would be better spent elsewhere
* Ensuring the leadership team of a potential investment option has enough operational experience to make the venture a success

Link:
A Dash of (A)cumen: The Recipe Behind Acumen Fund’s Investment Strategy