Praetorian Trust

The toxic spill over from the Madoff investment scam that has spanned more than 2 decades and touched all layers of the public, from the super wealthy to joe public, seems to be spanning the globe.

How is it that the SEC, from top banks to the smallest hedge fund have invested with Madoff without being able to penetrate and or have done their due diligence to uncover the simplest of facts such as the administrators and auditors of Madoffs funds and asset management arm where just a charade.

The question that begs to be answered, is really, are there more scams to be uncovered in the next year or is this one unique!

Quote: Reuters UK - Credit Suisse clients may have lost up to 1 billion Swiss francs (627.3 million pounds) ($195.18 mln) on investments connected to accused swindler Bernard Madoff, newspaper Sonntag reported on Sunday.

Without giving details of its sources, Sonntag reported that internal forecasts at Credit Suisse showed that customers of Switzerland’s second-largest bank could have lost 0.9-1.0 billion francs in the Madoff case.

Credit Suisse spokesman Jan Vonder Muehll said: “Credit Suisse did not actively recommend or sell products invested with Bernard Madoff.

“Furthermore, none of the funds of hedge funds offered by Credit Suisse contained holdings in Madoff funds.”

The holiday season is a perfect time to assess how the year 2008 has gone. Without going into details it is safe to say that this year has been very, very bad. If you don’t believe me, then just look into the eyes of your banker while he is trying to explain the current state of your portfolio!

That banker is facing a huge task in explaining your losses but don’t feel bad for him – he has been very well compensated by you! Also, he surely has a dozen new investment ideas to sell for the recovery “which could be just around the corner”. 

You now have two options: 1) leave your portfolio as it is (then pray and hope for the best) or 2) act now and make sure that your portfolio is ready for anything the future throws at you.

If you choose to act, then here are 3 steps to follow:

Define your investment strategy.

Refine your objectives and priorities.

Protect your assets.

Protect your family.

Rebalance your portfolio.

Get rid of mistakes.

Diversify.

Upgrade the quality of your portfolio.

Use your head.

History cannot teach us everything.

Your relationship to your assets is emotional NOT rational.

Focus only on things you can control.

Remember (when your banker is selling you new ideas for the market jump) that not one single successful investment strategy has been based on guessing what direction markets are going.

And it is YOUR responsibility to do something!

We at Praetorian, will assist you in choosing strategy and keeping an eye on other dangers lurking around in these dangerous financial waters.