Published at 15:47, Wednesday, 02 September 2009

AT the July meeting Simon Moss gave a very interesting talk on Investment Fund Management, a subject of particular interest at this time of uncertainty and anxiety in the world’s financial markets.

Simon, an ex-Whitehaven County Grammar School pupil, is employed by Scottish Widows and has considerable fund management experience.

He explained that his interest in financial matters started when he was quite young, being interested in economics and current affairs.

He made his initial foray into the financial markets when he was 13 with the purchase of £75 worth of Boddingtons shares. This was a purely financial investment and was not motivated by a love of Boddington products or beer in general! In those early years Simon, facing the realities of life, ultimately sold his shares to buy a bicycle.

After completing his studies in economics at Cardiff University in 1987, he joined a company in London as a trainee fund manager and so entered the apparently “mad” world of financial management.

Simon outlined his experiences in fund management working for several different financial companies in the United Kingdom and the USA. Over time he worked with numerous people who today are household names in financial and government circles. He was working in Philadelphia at the time of the attack on the World Trade Towers in New York and graphically explained the effect of this on life in the USA.

Simon’s current job involves buying shares, not Hedge Funding, in the expectation of those shares rising in value. This seemingly risky business is undertaken following analyses of many factors including commodity trends, company performances and anticipated future company performance trends.

We were left with the feeling that this somewhat “black art” does somehow work, with fund managers making more correct decisions than incorrect ones.

Published by http://www.whitehavennews.co.uk