FYI | Apr 20 2006
"Tim, I don’t read your emails every day, but I do my best to read them as often as possible and I enjoy them most of the time when I do read them."
I found myself at the other end of the email correspondence this week as Tim Price sent out an email waving goodbye to all his loyal readers.
Tim is Chief Investment Officer for wealth manager Ansbacher & Co in London. Or he was, because if I read his last email correctly he will be moving to a new position at Union Bancaire Privee, though that won’t happen until June, so I guess he will have some transition time at home, on the couch.
It must have been a little over a year ago that I came across one of Tim’s regular emails and I liked it. So I simply contacted him and asked if I could be added to his distribution list. Tim was happy to add me. And I have been a happy reader until yesterday.
It’s not that he’s such an inspiring writer. Most of the time his writings consist of large quotations from things he read elsewhere, and this doesn’t always guarantee fluent reading. On occasion he refers to some particular in-crowd discussion which is apparently taking place in the Big City’s finance circles, which doesn’t interest me in particular either.
But Tim is also a thinker. As you all may know by now I like to be inspired by new ideas, new approaches, or simply the same old thing but looked upon from a different point of view.
Tim also has been around for a while, I can tell from his writings and comments. A free thinker, working in the finance industry, who has been around for a while, and who hasn’t fallen for the temptation to go full force in his attacks on the ruling system (unlike many gold bugs), that is something to cherish, I think.
It was Tim who first pointed me at a book that was making waves within global financial circles. Soon after I was made aware of its publication, and its impact, I ordered a copy over the internet. It took a few days for the hard copy to end up in my mail box.
I remember starting to read it in the late afternoon on the very same day it had arrived. I couldn’t stop reading. I had to finish it. And I did, in the middle of the night, feeling inspired and enlightened, and sad there were no pages left anymore.
Two weeks later I handed it to Greg, saying I had lots of ideas about how to approach its content and some of the points made, but time simply was not on my side. Having been around himself for a while, Greg was rather skeptical at first. After all, how good could it be if I was passing it on to him?
It did not take long before he got back to me admitting he too had been truly inspired. I asked a few of my overseas contacts. They all had already read it too: they thought it was fantastic.
The book I am talking about is Our Brave New World, published by independent researchers GaveKal. Simply Google the title and its publisher and you will find we are far from the only ones who have been inspired by the book’s free thinking spirit.
I have no commercial interest in doing this, but if you are looking for the ideal birthday present, or simply for the next best book to read yourself, this one has to be on top of your list – because it truly wipes away the mind of its readers.
The book only costs US$20 when ordered directly from the GaveKal website (like I did). And that includes shipping costs.
In case you don’t want to spend the money, or cannot, we plan to offer you a series of smaller feature stories on the basis of this book. We published our first one today. Greg is having a helluva task to try to match the inspiration that comes from the original. But he’s been around for a while; his shoulders can carry the extra burden.
I take the liberty to end this week’s editorial with the quote Tim Price used to open his final email: "Good Night, and Good Luck." – US broadcaster and journalist Edward R. Murrow.
May you all find inspiration and enlightenment!
Till next week.
Your still inspired editor,
Rudi Filapek-Vandyck
(supported by the Magnificent Three)
(This editorial was published on Thursday morning due to some technical problems with the website)