Top quotes from the Investment Outlook Summit
(Reuters) - Here are some of the top quotes from guests attending the Reuters Investment Outlook 2009 Summit this week:
KEN WEBSTER, PRESIDENT, JOHN W. HENRY & CO.:
(On the fate of hedge funds)
"There are going to be some firms that have good strategies that were strong in terms of discipline and their strategy itself, but may not survive this because they don't have the assets or the funding to be able to survive."
SHAWN KRAVETZ, PRESIDENT, ESPLANADE CAPITAL LLC:
"You feel stupid today if you go into a store and buy something at full price. To take it off the rack and pay full price ... full price today is anathema."
MICHAEL STEINHARDT, PIONEER HEDGE-FUND MANAGER:
"What we really needed a long time ago was a recognition that there were villains apace. The evils of the financial system should have been recognized long before this."
MOHAMED EL-ERIAN, CO-CHIEF EXECUTIVE, PIMCO:
(On redefinement of financial system)
"The financial system used to be the dark green and dark blue, you know, the Boardwalk on the Monopoly board. It is where you could buy the property. It was expensive, but you could buy it. You could then build hotels and houses, and just wait and you will earn a really good income. That is no longer true."
(Asked what's on top of his worry list)
"I think housing is one of the biggest problems, but unfortunately, and I stress unfortunately, this crisis has morphed into something much, much bigger -- much, much bigger."
WHITNEY TILSON, FOUNDER, T2 PARTNERS LLC:
"I spend money on things that are important. When you go to Africa and see people dying from a lack of $1 in malaria medication, it makes me uncomfortable to just be pissing away money for no reason."
JAMES POTERBA, PRESIDENT, NATIONAL BUREAU OF ECONOMIC
RESEARCH:
"I know personally, as I have watched my own retirement portfolio and other portfolios shrink, I feel it is a good time to be saving more and to be trying to be rebuilding some of those assets."
"There is more volatility in both financial markets and in the broader economy than I think I probably would have estimated if you had asked me a year ago or eight years ago."
JOHN TAYLOR, CHAIRMAN OF FX CONCEPTS INC:
"It amazes me that New York apartment prices haven't come down. What about the Lehman people? Aren't they selling?"
MARGIE PATEL, SENIOR PORTFOLIO MANAGER, EVERGREEN
INVESTMENTS:
(On why the changing administration will give markets a psychological lift)
"Just at least having a coherent plan in charge will be better than feeling things were being done on a one-off, disorganized basis."
JIM ROGERS, ONE OF THE WORLD'S MOST PROMINENT INTERNATIONAL
INVESTORS:
"Without giving specific names, most of the significant American banks, the larger banks, are bankrupt, totally bankrupt."
"What is outrageous economically and is outrageous morally is that normally in times like this, people who are competent and who saw it coming and who kept their powder dry go and take over the assets from the incompetent. What's happening this time is that the government is taking the assets from the competent people and giving them to the incompetent people and saying, now you can compete with the competent people. It is horrible economics."
BOB DOLL, GLOBAL CHIEF INVESTMENT OFFICER FOR EQUITIES AT
BLACKROCK:
(On whether U.S. stocks have hit bottom)
"I think we've broken the downtrend and gone sideways."
(For summit blog: summitnotebook.reuters.com/)
(Compiled by Ros Krasny and Jennifer Ablan)
