Robertson Offers Insights

Three major financial investors shared their experiences in the industry and advised students on financial careers, during a panel discussion at the Harvard Faculty Club last night.

The event featured Julian H. Robertson, who co-founded and ran the largest hedge fund in the world before retiring, his son Alexander Robertson, who has worked alongside his father, and Richard Mayo, a founding partner at an investment management fund.

Over 150 students from nine student organizations attended the event.

Robertson, who was referred to as a “titan” during the event for turning $8 million of start-up capital in 1980 into over $23 billion by 1998, discussed finance as a career choice and his success in the field.

“It is very important to align interests with abilities,” Robertson said when asked about preparation for the financial world, adding that students should not give up after a set-back.

His son Alex Robertson followed up on his father’s point, telling the audience about his failed attempt to establish a hedge fund during his senior year in college before the dot-com bubble burst. He also said that great hedge fund managers are people who not only work hard and have a high degree of intelligence, but “can think outside of the box, and are competitive in different areas such as athletics and debate—a trait they will bring to the company.”

Ashley M. Kang ’12, who co-moderated the panel with William Richards, a senior hedge funds relationship manager at UBS, said the event was intended to bring the Harvard community together “for a shared intellectual pursuit.”

Regarding investment strategies, the panelists urged students to choose an area and specialize in it. The panel also highlighted the importance of equity in the turbulent market. However, “corporations are living and breathing organizations—they don’t just sit there and behave like investors want them to,” Mayo said, encouraging students to be critical of mainstream investing.

Describing concern about the about the U.S. economy, Robertson said that “we are saddling our grandchildren with those debts that we are not willing to pay off.”

Most investment opportunities present themselves in emerging markets, especially in China, the panelists said. Clients’ demand for physical gold has also surged because of high distrust in currencies in times of quantitative easing, Mayo said.

After the forum, a few members of the audience had a chance to chat with Robertson.

“People who worked for Robertson, or even people who worked for people who worked for him, practically started all hedge funds,” said Patrick C. Haley ’14, a founder of the student-run financial newsletter “College Stock Picks.” “He is the star at the top of the tree.”

—Staff writer Martin Steinbauer can be reached at martinsteinbauer@college.harvard.edu.