My New York Dinner With An Old Friend

I was in NYC recently, meeting with a potential institutional client for my new hedge fund. After the meeting I got together with an old friend, whom I’ll refer to as “Harry”, for dinner.
Someone who executes order for an institutional customer, like a hedge fund or mutual fund, is, like Harry, deemed a "Sales Trader." He was very successful in the business, and used to cover me, and I was one of the accounts he had in “Ron Pollack Bulldog Days”. We continued to stay in touch with one another,he retired or took a break from trading around the same time I did in 2004.
Both Harry and I had varying, though generally little, success with business ventures after our time on Wall Street. After a while, Harry started to miss the game and asked me if I’d ever go back to trading. Really, I miss it also. Back in early 2008, I told Harry that I was going to start managing money again, and he was thrilled and ready to jump back in himself.
The launch of my new fund was postponed as a result of the market upheavals in the latter part of the year.
I saw Harry last fall and he looked stressed, which is unusual for a guy who can handle million share orders in volatile stocks like clockwork. Firms were closing down everywhere, and he was relying on my account for his own return but that was not there.
Shortlyl after I saw Harry, I met "Doug", a gentleman that runs a small firm catering to hedge funds. I immediately thought of Harry and I put the two of them together. Doug gave Henry a trial opportunity, and Harry was very successful, so everything went well. Within his first few phone calls to some old accounts he snagged a big order and it went up from there.
He's only worked there for four months, but Harry is already one of the top producers in Doug's company. It wasn't surprising that Harry was beaming when we met him for dinner. He’s making money, good money and having a blast. I was elated. Then Harry announced that dinner would be his treat, in fact he said, “Ron Pollack I am going to treat you every time you come to NYC!I was already happy because we were eating at one of the great steakhouses in the City.
Toward the end of the evening, I asked Harry this question, “Every day we’ve been hearing stories of doom and gloom like the end of Wall Street, the end of hedge funds, the end of the world as we know it. Of course things are a mess but I want your perspective about what is different about your current success.” His answer was refreshing and went something like this, he said, “Ron, there are a lot of people hurting right now and I truly feel for them, but I am living proof that if you’re good at what you do, have the willingness to work hard and apply yourself and are realistic in your expectations, you can make it and even flourish in times like these. While my paycheck has shrunk, I really can not complain. People like us are fighters, we’re survivors and there’s business to be done. If you are productive, someone will always be willing to do business with you.”
Harry, here’s to you my friend! Continue to show us how to do it. Ron Pollack, signing off for now.