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News

Ken Fisher's Sexist Comments Cost His Firm a Further $500 Million as Fidelity Distances Itself

By:
Chris Gaetano
Published Date:
Oct 22, 2019

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Fidelity Investments is the latest fund to announce that it is no longer associating with Ken Fisher’s investment firm in the wake of sexist comments he recently made at a conference, bringing losses from the unfortunate remarks to roughly $1.8 billion, according to Bloomberg. Fisher, who during a recent speech compared finding investors to propositioning women for sex and compared his genitals to a Christmas tree, has been under fire from investors who believe that his comments reflect poorly on both his character and professional judgment. While at first he expressed confusion over why people were so upset, saying that he's been giving talks for years and everyone knows what he's talking about anyway, he later issued an apology, although he tempered it with wondering whether anyone can ever be candid at events again. 

Investors, however, do not appear to be impressed with his apologies. His comments have already cost his firm its relationship with the Michigan Retirement Fund, which pulled its $600 million in assets from the firm; the Iowa Public Employees’ Retirement System, which pulled $386 million; the Boston Pension Board, which pulled $248 million; and the Philadelphia Board of Pensions, which pulled $54 million. Bloomberg said that while Fidelity is the latest to pull its assets out, it is not likely to be the last, as other institutional investors have been discussing distancing themselves from Fisher as well.

A profile in the Los Angeles Times describes Fisher as running a firm with a crude, rough, and mostly male culture focused on relentless cold calling that former employees have described as anxiety-inducing. Fisher himself was known for making comments similar to the ones at the center of the scandal, particularly where it concerns comparing various things to genitalia, such as the act of shifting into defensive investment strategies. The profile said few were surprised at his public remarks. Forbes recently reported that further probing of Fisher’s social media commentary reveals similar language and attitudes, such as joking about employees quitting because he had sex with them, sprinkled through with other comments such as declaring Lincoln his least favorite U.S. president and that slavery would have likely died out on its own had the Civil War not happened.

Barron’s noted that sexist language is rather common at finance industry conferences, with the main factor making Fisher’s situation different is that he made his remarks during a keynote address rather than at the cocktail hour afterwards. This situation itself, however, has brought further attention to an overall culture that seems to reign at such events, and could serve as a turning point in the future.