A Private Banker's Lot Is Not A Happy One
A common question at dinner parties, particularly in Hong Kong, is: "What do you do for a living?" As well as being an easy conversation starter, the answer enables the listener to make certain assumptions about the person they are talking to.
If the answer is "teacher" you can probably assume that you are talking to someone patient, good with children and underpaid. If it is "politician" you will probably keep your distance and want to have a shower when you get home.
One answer that is becoming increasingly uncommon is "investment banker". It used to be unnecessary to even ask. It was always obvious who the investment banker was: the guy in the slick suit with the loud voice who seemed to think everyone was interested in whether he bought a Maserati or an Aston Martin with his last bonus.
And once upon a time, the assumptions that everyone made about this person were that he was wealthy, successful and just a little bit arrogant. Now it is simply accepted that investment bankers are monsters who have spent their careers stealing money from the public and have finally been caught.
If you were seated next to one at a dinner party nowadays, you would probably fake illness and leave early. But that's an unlikely scenario; investment bankers are now less likely to be invited to dinner parties than traffic wardens, income-tax auditors and lawyers.
Becoming the object of so much public distaste, falling from such lofty pedestals, you would think that life for investment bankers is a bit depressing. But they have one consolation to fall back on: at least they are not private bankers. The worst profession in the world right now is private banker.
For those of you who don't know what a private bankers is, they used to be responsible for managing the personal bank accounts of very wealthy individuals. Their job was to suggest interesting investment ideas like accumulators, emerging-market bonds and hedge funds.
Not so long ago private bankers were also flying...
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