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