Here ya go... As "Blond-Moment" suggested...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-WVbFxrPx8
Hedge Funds
by tornapart 19 Replies latest watchtower scandals
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respectful_observer
Without taking a stance on whether the WTS should or shouldn't include hedge funds as tool to manage their assets, I just want to share a few observations on hedge funds, and the videos posted by "TheSnarkyApologist" and "TheRecoveringZombie".
First, The Snarky Apologist:
He spends quite a bit of time walking the viewer through a screen shot from Hedge Fund Intelligence. While showing a quote on the screen that says "...which attracts both hedge funds managers and investors from around the globe." He states in his narration that "...unless you're a bank, or a hedge fund, or a hedge fund manager, you have no interest being here."
Did he miss the sentence the part that said "and investors"? If he's saying the WTS has no business being there, then apparently neither does the West Midlands Pension Fund, which is the attendee listed right underneath the WTS.
Next he goes on to say "most hedge funds...are registered in the Cayman Islands, the Virgin Islands, places out there where national governments can't touch them. Why? Because it's widely known that the banks and hedge funds in these areas where governments cannot get their hands on them are used primarily for laundering money."
Does money laundering occur in the Caymans, or the British Virgin Islands? Sure. Does it occur in the US? Sure. But for him to imply that hedge funds registered in any of these places are used "primarily for laundering money" is completely inaccurate. The funds register in those places for favorable tax treatment. If ANY hedge fund wants a U.S. customer, it MUST become a Registered Investment Adviser with the SEC. As a registered investment adviser it is then subject to the "fiduciary duty" requirement (meaning that it must put clients' interests first), it is subject to unscheduled SEC exams, and its clients must pass rigorous anti-money laundering tests and not have any connection to the entities that appear on the list maintained by the US Office of Foreign Assets Control ("OFAC"). A hedge fund with US clients is subject to the same securities laws and requirements as your local Merrill Lynch, Edward Jones, Schwab, or Ameriprise financial advisor.
The only thing that separates hedge funds from mutual funds, or your local financial advisor, is that the SEC recognizes that hedge funds may utilize strategies that carry higher potential risk that the everyday investor may not fully understand. Therefore the SEC has established minimum asset and income standards for hedge fund investors-- standards that the SEC believes demonstrates an investors level of sophistication and understanding of risk. The Recovering Zombie does a reasonably good job highlighting this.
As for the rest of The Snarky Apologist's video, or Parts 2 and 3 of The Recovering Zombie's presentation, I'll quote the former: "I don't know what the Watchtower has going on here; I've got my speculations." His statement is spot on. He has NO IDEA what the WT is up to; he's just speculating. And frankly, so is The Recovering Zombie.
Just because someone invests in a hedge fund, doesn't mean you're greedy-- it simply means you're responsible for a large amount of assets. It means that you're understanding of risk is sufficient enough to pursue complicated investment strategies that the individual investor typically will not fully understand. Saying the WTS is "greedy" for wanting to use hedge funds as an investment vehicle would be tantamount to saying the West Midlands Pension Fund, CALPERS, or the Teacher Retirement System of Texas is greedy.
When someone speculates too much, it makes others think perhaps that person should put their tin foil hat back on.
R_O
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ziddina
The point that the "Recovering Zombie" was making in her videos, is that the "hedge funds" are similar to gambling, which the Watchtower Society roundly condemns for the average "Rank&File" Jehovah's Witness, but is apparently all right for the Watchtower Corporation to indulge in...
Nor would an average average "Rank&File" Jehovah's Witness be allowed to participate in stock speculation, as that would be considered as being "part of the world" - but no such restriction applies to the very religion/sect/cult that forbids such for its own members - the Watchtower Society/Corporation, again...
Just as membership in the YMCA is forbidden to the average "Rank&File" Jehovah's Witness, but Watchtower Corporation freely joined the "Wild Beast with Seven Heads and Ten Horns" United Nations, when it suited the Watchtower Corporation's purposes of proselytising....
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heathen
One part of the snarky film is that the UN is the scarlet colored beast not the whore of babylon . That is despicable if true . Jesus threw the money changers out of the temple but now we have the temple using the money changers out of greed . disgusting.
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Londo111
I did note the inaccuracy in Snarky's video as well…which alas, such inaccuracies unfortunately deter from the message. A Witness will then discount the whole message if any one point is wrong because of being told that such things are nothing but lies, half-truths, and misrepresentations. Otherwise, it is a slick production and entertaining.
Recovering Zombie's videos were food for thought. Of course, as pointed out, this is all speculation. We have too few facts.
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Balaamsass
Snarky I get a kick out of your videos! I think WTBTS is following the Morman lead with Bain Capital. Hedge funds offer more flexability and investment vehicles and are perfectly suited for WTBTS info. Have you ever wondered how presidents and others with public saleries leave office soooo rich? Information. Did you really believe Hilery Clinton was ALWAYS Lucky as a beginner in Commodities trading? Information. If you have brother "Andre" working at xyz a private company, you have a reliable source for information about them. If you have brother "Andre" working in a mine in deepest africa you have a source about if a new deposit of that obscure alloy has been found or is played out... a week before Chicago or New York finds out. The branch can simply pass the info along. How much money could you make getting the Financial pages or Horse race results 2-7 days before anyone else? Private Hedge funds don't have as many restrictions as public funds. They can be in the US or Offshore. Folks in the US and British Commonwealth are under the mistaken idea everyone plays by the rules.
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Balaamsass
I was reading some updated info on Hedge Funds and I realized just how brilliant WTBTS is. They have dozens if not hundreds of offshore corporations and branches. Private hedge funds can transfer money from account to account and be managed in the Caymans. Safe from lawsuits or any government investigation.
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Pams girl
I thought the WT wasnt able to transfer $, buy or sell, in light of the Candace Conti case?
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Aussie Oz
I see the hedge fund situation the same as the UN scandle.
the subject can get disected to death but the bottom line is that they just should not be in the same sentance. They are on record as opposed to the UN, and using the world to the full from a finacial point of veiw.
Sure they may be 'allowed' to do stuff by law or whatever, bu it plainly makes a mockery out of the whole ''jehovah will provide the funds'' jargon
IF i was still 'in', the whole hedge fund thing would have seriously knocked my faith around...
oz
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mynameislame
Please! Investing in a hedge fund is not the same thing as gambling. It is sad that they do the right thing with their money while instructing the dubs not to save for the future.
I wonder how good their returns are maybe we could start a watch the watchtower investing club.
And that video only gives ammunition to the JWs for use against us "apostates"