The chief executive of Deutsche Bank AG’s asset management arm lambasted so-called experts who make vague, useless calls on financial markets and challenged his staff to bet with him to win a coffee or another type of beverage.
(Bloomberg) — The chief executive of Deutsche Bank AG’s asset management arm lambasted so-called experts who make vague, useless calls on financial markets and challenged his staff to bet with him to win a coffee or another type of beverage.
“Saying ‘stocks should go up from here’ or ‘I can see rates eventually coming down’ is like stating that there will likely be an NBA champion,” DWS Group boss Stefan Hoops wrote on his LinkedIn page.
“It is cringeworthy how many ‘experts’ get away with that level of hedged imprecision, even on TV.”
In what he called a #BeatTheCEO challenge, Hoops invited staff, students and future asset managers to make specific calls on the markets, geopolitics or basketball.
Hoops said he would bet a coffee or another drink and take the other side of any proposed bets. Early wagers — placed by some in the comments section — included where the Indian rupee will end the year and how many games the NBA finals would last.
The first three female students in the challenge could opt for either a DWS box seat for an Eintracht Frankfurt Bundesliga football match or lunch with a DWS executive board member of their choice, he said.
He also offered to pay all their travel costs.
“By when will which stocks go up by how much? Which part of the rates world is coming down by how much and how do you define “eventually?” Hoops wrote on the social media platform.
The real skill, he said, is to invest in a cost- and time-efficient way to ensure strong returns for clients.
Hoops, who started as a salesman at Deutsche Bank’s fixed-income division, has been active on social media since taking over the lender’s asset management unit as chief executive in June last year.
He was brought in to help fix the crisis the asset manager is facing as it reels from allegations of overstating its green investment credentials.
The CEO took to social media last year to defend the asset manager over what he called critical reporting by the media of the firm’s results and strategy.
–With assistance from Jan-Henrik Förster.
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