How does one become a "private proprietary money manager"?
We don't really have time or space for me to cover this in any real detail. However, I will give you an idea from my own personal experience of how one could become a Private Proprietary Money Manager, because there is no book and no college or university campus that will teach you how to achieve it.
For me, it took about 15 years of developing the skills, knowledge and expertise and the core technology that I apply to the Markets on a daily basis. It then took 3 additional years of integration engineering and optimization work predicated on that core technology. The Most successful public facing fund managers I know have been in the business developing themselves for 20-40 years. It is not for everyone. It takes a mental and emotional framework that most find difficult to adjust to. And, it requires a complete change of personal attitudes and personal beliefs systems about money. It takes extreme focus, will and determination to succeed. You'll need beyond merely good analytical skills to become a technical practitioner in the business. You'll need to develop the ability to see beyond the obvious by being adept at recognizing patterns in data that others simply do not and cannot see.
I'm on the Technical side of the business as opposed to the Fundamental side and I manage my own private capital. I'm whats known as a Quant in the business (you can google it). However, I have to wear multiple hats and run my operation as a business through development lifecycles and revenue generating cycles. That requires changing focus from the purely technical to the execution side of the business fluidly. I don't work with or for the public. That means, no one can hire me to manage their capital for them. That's not what I do. I don't work with third-party capital, ever. I'm focused exclusively on growing my own private capital and creating a personal financial empire. That may sound a bit ambitious, but I have good reason to believe its possible. I'm a long way from that level today, but the research data that I've produced through many years of hard work says it can be done. So, I'm going to give it my best shot. I'd be a complete fool not to try, knowing what I know. If I fall short, then so be it. But, it won't be for the lack of trying.
If you are going at this from the technical side, you will need to develop yourself into a better than average integration engineer. As such, you will have the unenviable task of welding together both mathematical and logic based algorithms to produce software based decision support technology, that you then bring to bear directly on the markets. The Market will punish you severely when you and/or your technology get it wrong. So, expect to be humbled by the Market from time to time. That's par for the course. You will need to be good with math, logic, strategic planning, tactical execution and decision making. They don't teach what I do at Harvard Business School, nor do they teach it at MIT. Unfortunately, there have been too many public facing Fund Managers (those who thrive off of the public's money) who attended Poison Ivy League schools, were considered geniuses before age 28 and then given the responsibility for managing $400 million after just a few years of skills development under their belt. This has lead to more than one well publicized disaster and such fallout gets attached to everyone in the business, deserved or not. In the meantime, guys like me fly completely under the radar because we are Private Proprietary Fund Manager of our own Private Capital. And, the only way we can still be around in this business after 15-20 years, is if we learned a long time ago how to first survive and then how to thrive. That takes many years and lots of frustrated success.
Welcome to the world of Growing Capital for a living. That's all it is. It is not glamorous. It certainly is not the way Hollywood typically depicts it. It is not evil. It is not corrupt. It is not unlawful. It is not immoral or unethical. It is just another day at the office growing your own private capital. Nothing more than that. My
professional life is all about money and its growth. My
private life is completely set aside from my professional life and never the twain shall they meet. If along your journey you get it right (and you will if you work hard enough and smart enough at it) - there won't be many physical things outside of your reach that are desirable. I maintain my morals, ethics, principles and character, of course. So, I don't have internal conflicts merely because I've learned how to grow capital to the point where I want for nothing. In addition, the successful practitioner will have options/choices in life that other Professions and business models will be hard pressed to ever match. I know of no other business model that affords the individual such freedom and opportunity to structure a life and lifestyle of their desire and to develop capital to a level commensurate with their talents, skills, knowledge and expertise.
I know a lot of people look from the outside-in on this business with skepticism and criticism based on what they've seen in the Media. However, the truth behind the scenes is far from what most people know beyond what the media shows them and that is vary unfortunate. A good Money Manager and Trader, whether they manage the capital of others, or a Private Money Manager and Trader who works exclusively with their own capital and does not work with the public (as in my case), is a true Professional in every sense of the word. In order to reach that level of success, they had to overcome many obstacles that force lesser focused individuals out of the business forever and often times into a resulting life of psychological, emotional and eventually even physical ruin (poor health). A willingness and capacity to adapt to change is probably the most important character trait I can think of that will give an individual an opportunity to succeed in this business.
This business does not build character, it exposes personal character trait flaws and many who enter the business never find a way to manage that internal change process successfully. Those who can't or don't ultimately resign themselves to failure and often times become outside persecutors of the same business model they once loved - exposing the real character flaws that caused them to fail in the first place. A viscous, downward spiral that sometimes send certain individuals out of control in their own personal lives. One's financial market IQ, fundamental skill, fundamental knowledge and talent will be developed over a period of years in this business, not days and not months. Many are not willing to pay that price and so they too, ultimately fail. However, there is light at the end of the tunnel that is not also an oncoming freight train. That light is seen once the fundamental baseline of skill, knowledge, wisdom and talent have been laid over the course of years. That will ultimately be the tangible proof which provides the individual with the necessary internal support from which they can then begin thinking seriously about establishing the structural foundation for a lasting business model predicated on consistent, reliable and predictable revenues.
I hope that gave you some idea of what's truly involved in this business and what it takes for one to become a Private Proprietary Money Manager from the inside-out, as opposed to the all too familiar outside-in perspective the Media constantly focuses on.
It can be done. I'm living proof.
