Dr. Gary North preaches the importance of a calling. He defines it as the thing you can do in which you are most difficult to replace. Jobs exist to fund the calling, and while a person’s calling is the most important thing they can do in their life, their job is still relevant. While the question about my calling left me partially dumbfounded, I have a better grip on my job. Still, not everything is figured out.
I’ve been intrigued by private equity for the longest time. Ever since I read Steve Schwarzman’s book, What it Takes: Lessons in the Pursuit of Excellence, the private equity industry has captivated me. The idea of purchasing a company, increasing its value through more efficiency, and then selling it at a profit appeared intriguing. But the more I’ve dug into the industry, the more it’s disgusted me. I despise the corruption involved on Wall Street. Even if I enter the finance industry, I refuse to work on Wall Street. It’s not so much the concept that I hate. Historically, the Street has earned a reputation for greed. While I disapprove of greed, that is not the major issue that dissuades me. I don’t care if a banker makes a bunch of money while others live on minimum wage. I’m no socialist! Capitalism is a wonderful thing, and if someone is only motivated to make money, more power to him. That isn’t my motivation, but he can do what he wants. America is a free country, after all.
The issue in question is how he makes his money. For the longest time, Wall Streeters have been in cahoots with the government. During the Great Recession in 2007-2009, a few banks like Lehman Brothers collapsed because of their exposure to mortgage-backed securities. The level of fraud involved on Wall Street at the time was despicable. Even worse, many of the banks that would have collapsed were bailed out by the federal government. Wall Street doesn’t deserve bailouts. Like the rest of the nation, they should suffer bankruptcy when they make poor business decisions. If a bad trade can wipe out my cousin’s Robinhood account, why shouldn’t the big banks suffer the same fate? Even worse than the bailouts is the fraud that caused the Great Recession in the first place. Specifically, about the private equity industry, Warren Buffet has called them deceitful and manipulative in the way they structure fees.
But worst of all, the primary reason why I refuse to work on Wall Street is the lobbying involved in wars, infrastructure, etc. It is cronyism at its core, and private equity firms like Carlyle are at the helm of it. They lobby the government to participate in wars only to hold investments in defense and infrastructure companies. I disagree with this immoral behavior heavily. Wealth (and returns) should be the result of value creation, not problem propagation. To quote Scott Horton, the military-industrial complex is a “Self-licking ice cream cone.” In other words, they create problems, only to profit off “solving” the problem they started in the first place. For that reason primarily, I refuse to work on Wall Street.
However, I would work at a boutique private equity firm in Houston that focused on true value creation. If that wasn’t a key part of their thesis and practices, I wouldn’t work there. My job must create value for someone else. I cannot work just to make money.
That said, the leveraged buyout market has slumped in the past few years. It seems that I got interested in it at the wrong time. Now, all the private equity firms are focusing on private credit. Private credit does not interest me the same way leveraged buyouts do. I’m not interested in loaning a company money. I’d much prefer to buy and improve a company. That said, the private credit world concerning drillcos (oil drilling contracts) is somewhat interesting. We shall see what the future holds.
Aside from private equity, I have also been loosely interested in trial law. The famed attorney Mark Lanier is the primary reason for that. I see value creation in trial law and pursuing justice. In my blog post about my calling, I said two of my talents were public speaking and writing. Both of those talents fit right in line with trial law. The only thing that discourages me is law school. Obtaining a J.D. would add another three years of college in addition to an undergraduate degree. The question is whether it’s worth it.
As I said before, I do not know what the future holds. I might work in investing, litigation, or something else entirely. I do not know. This blog post concludes my current thoughts on the subject. We shall see what the future holds.
Asher Sisneros 