Cluster Family Office Blog

As we mentioned last August, almost all activity comes to a standstill during this month. The run-up to July makes the slowdown less abrupt, but it really does become difficult to work and get in touch with most of the people who make up our daily working routine. This lack of productivity for practically 10% of the year sets us permanently apart from other parts of the world, such as Japan, where it is customary to have just over a week’s annual holiday, which barely affects their productivity. In any case, we tend to refer to our summer ‘productive hibernation’ as «well-deserved rest», although, personally, I’ve always found it a rather sweeping definition.

Whether deserved or undeserved, what is clear is that, to a greater or lesser extent, everyone takes a temporary break (or definitely) their work. And most employees do so without this affecting their earnings; however, the vagaries of the market during August tend to mean that the dolce far niente with the loss of earnings. Whether it is down to Murphy’s Law itself or a hidden hand at work when investors’ ability to react is at its lowest, the fact is that in August there are often erratic market movements that tend to cost holidaymakers far more money than the mere cost of their holidays. But we’ll be discussing these holiday crises (financial ones, of course) in a future article.

Now let’s focus on the sun, the beach and the sun cream on tanned backs. Beachside democracy brings together rich and poor, fat and thin, beautiful and ugly… And also successful investors, losers and even those who have never risked their money beyond their conservative pension scheme, which invests passively in emerging market equities. Nudity on the beach can give us the chance to lay out our towel next to the all-inclusive resort an executive from a company whose shares have been purchased by the investment fund in which we have invested our savings. Perhaps we’ll be sitting at the same table at the Captain’s Gala Dinner, during a cruise across the Mediterranean, with a banker/fishmonger que disfruta de su incentivo por haber conseguido la cifra exigida de explotación por cliente. Y también es posible que alguien coincida, durante una visita guiada, con su gestor de cartera saliendo de una de las suites del hotel Burj Al Arab de Dubai.

La grandeza del verano es que podemos disfrutar de nuestras vacaciones anónimamente junto a otros damnificados por la crisis; en hamacas contiguas con quien se ha forrado comprando futuros de petróleo; o michelín frente a michelín de corresponsables de nuestras carnicerías patrimoniales. Pero mejor no pensar en ello, olvidémonos de la condición inversora y financiera de los veraneantes de nuestro alrededor y de la nuestra propia. Que cada mástil aguante su vela y disfrutemos del surf sin importarnos quien sujeta la tabla de al lado.

Los que velamos para que no cese el lucro seguiremos escribiendo y surfeando entre el oleaje de las crisis, esperando «the big one» y vigilando para que nadie se ahogue o se queme. Va con el sueldo.