Category: Famous Traders

George Soros is one of the founders of The Quantum Fund along with the “Investment Biker” Jim Rogers. Soros was one of the first investment managers in the world to develop the hedge fund concept and it made him and co-founder Jim Rogers billionaires.

Soros’s most famous investment was when he “broke the bank” in England by betting billions against the British pound on “Black Wednesday” in 1992. Forbes has Soros ranked at 27 in its “richest in America” list with a net worth tipping the scales at $8.5bb. Soros emigrated to England in 1947 and graduated from the London School of Economics in 1952 . While a student of the philosopher Karl Popper , Soros funded himself by taking jobs as a railway porter and a waiter at Quaglino’s restaurant where he was told that with hard work he might one day become head waiter.

Soros and his management firm differ in many ways from most of the other investors we Coattail. For starters, his fund, The Quantum Fund, is not a mutual fund, but rather a hedge fund. The hedge fund industry has since grown into a monster financial industry that typically takes “2 and 20″, that is 2% of the funds invested upfront as a management fee, and 20% of the profits as a performance fee. Hedge funds now manage trillions of dollars. This concept has probably made more billionaires than any other single industry and it was George Soros who was the the first to develop it.

In the following interview Jim Rogers, famous former partner of George Soros in the Quantum Fund, gives his opinion on helicopter Ben Bernanke and the rate cutting , money printing, activities of the US Federal Reserve Bank.

Jim Rogers is one of the more astute long term investors in the world. He correctly forecast the commodity boom well before it started as well as forecast the tremendous future of China as a major player in the world economy before growth in China really took off.

Jim Rogers has recently moved to Singapore where he can more closely monitor his investments in nearby China as well as enjoy the infrastructure of one of the worlds’ most technologically advanced cities.

The following interview was with Lindsay Williams of the Resource Investor.

Lindsay Williams for Resource Investor speaks with Jim Rogers, co-founder of the Quantum Fund, about the financial woes hitting the U.S. markets - and where to put your money.

RESOURCE INVESTOR: Jim Rogers started the Quantum Fund with George Soros a couple of decades ago, probably three decades ago actually. He’s a legendary investor. He’s a bestselling author and he’s a prolific commentator and never a day goes by when you don’t see him on Financial Times Television or Bloomberg or listen to him on the wireless and he’s on the wireless now.

Jim, before we get into what’s happening with commodities, which is one of your favourite subjects, what do you think about the recent market action?

James B. Rogers, Jr. is a very interesting guy. Educated at Yale (1964) and Oxford (1966), he was the Co-founder of The Quantum Fund, with George Soros.

Jim Rogers kind of stumbled into Wall Street and investment as a career. He states that when he went to work on Wall Street at the invitation of a friend he didn’t know the difference between a stock or a bond.

In 1970, he joined Arnhold & S. Bleichroeder, where he met George Soros. Later that year, Rogers and Soros founded the Quantum Fund. During the following 10 years the fund gained 4200% while the S&P advanced about 47%.

The Quantum Fund was a brillant idea, one of the first truly international funds, and its success made Soros and Rogers extremely wealthy men.

In 1980, Rogers decided to “retire”. Since then, he has been a guest professor of finance at the Columbia University Graduate School of Business.

Rogers has lead a most interesting life since his retirement as a forex and commodity trader and fund manager.

Rogers and his friend Paige Parker made a historic, three-year journey around the world, which began Jan. 1, 1999 and ended Jan. 5, 2002. They visited 116 countries and covered more than 245,000 kilometers during their travels. The epic journey was called “The Millennium Adventure”.

Rogers remains an astute observer of the investment world and of trends and current events. His writings and forecasts are often right on the money and should be respected by anyone who has an interest in forex trading and commodities.

A lot can be learned by studying the forex trading techniques of those traders who have made their fortunes from trading. George Soros is such a man.

Soros earned the title “the man who broke the Bank of England” for his short sell of British Pound Sterling in 1992. Soros make it to the big time with that trade, earning in excess of one billion dollars.

Soros had researched the British Pound and thought that it was at least 25% over valued. He correctly forecast that the Bank of England would not be able to successfully defend the Pound as market participants, including himself, began to heavily sell Pounds.

Soros has always been more of a long term fundamental analysis type of trader as opposed to taking short term technical trades. His short sell of Pounds proved to be a brilliant trade based upon the fundamentals.

George Soros had the guts, smarts, and discipline to follow through on his research. He placed considerable assets on the line to sell Pounds once he was convinced that his research was correct.

To read about the background of George Soros in more detail go to Commodites Futures Trader. It is an interesting read.