While I may not wholly agree with everything you've said I do appreciate you taking the time to reply - thank you.
Firstly I must whole-heartedly disagree with the notion that you need to be smart or successful to make Stuart McAuliffe look like a carpark attendant. Anyone who knows how to use copy and paste can do that!
I agree that there were a lot of brainwashed people on the HML threads back when you were trying to warn everyone about the impending disaster. I'm pretty sure that I could name the people that derided your posts from memory. I'm embarrassed to admit that I was probably even one of them! At the time I was under the false impression that the market was much more tightly regulated than what it is. In all honesty I thought that the people trying to warn us about the impending disaster were just downramping so that they could scoop up HML shares for a bargain. Thank you for trying to warn us. I'm genuinely sorry that I didn't listen to you back then.
In one of your earlier posts you said, "Nothing wrong with paying fees for your money to be managed professionally. It's not just about performance on the positive side but also protection on the downside. I have no problem paying 1% and performance fees for a good manager." (https://hotcopper.com.au/posts/41300615/single) Yet in your next post you say, "The moral of the story, however, is the only person responsible for your money ultimately is you. What should or shouldn't happen, is a long way from what actually does happen." (https://hotcopper.com.au/posts/41332577/single) So if I understand you correctly, you're happy to trust other people to manage your money and you're happy to pay them to do it. But if the person you trusted to manage your money for you did the same thing that McAuliffe and his crew have done you would blame yourself for trusting that person? You wouldn't try to hold them accountable? I'm not trying to pick apart your words, I'm just trying to understand where you're coming from.
Fair enough, my assumption was wrong and you don't work in the finance sector. But it does sound as though investing is almost like a part time job for you and you've been doing it for a while. If you were able to make a profitable investment from the depths of the GFC then you clearly have 11 years investing experience at the very least. How many hours a week do you spend reading reports, announcements, articles, etc?
The average IT professional needs to pass a certification exam about once every 2 years. So in between keeping myself educated and studying for my next exam, not to mention actually working to support my family, I don't have time to read every report, announcement and news article out there. I am happy to pay a management fee and performance fees to someone who can do that for me.
Unfortunately for me, I trusted that responsibility to Stuart McAuliffe, his father John McAuliffe and their associates. They have not only betrayed my trust, but evidence suggests that they have set out from the very beginning to gain my trust so that they could betray it for their own benefit. I deeply regret trusting them but I don't blame myself for it. I made the best decision I could at the time with the limited knowledge I had. What I'm taking responsibility for right now is making sure that they're held accountable for what they've done.
HML Price at posting:
$1.99 Sentiment: None Disclosure: Held
