SmartMoney tracked money managers who survived the Depression

Reshma Kapadia

This sculpture of men in a bread line during the Great Depression is part of the FDR Memorial in Washington. Photo by Flickr.com user woodleywonderworks.

Amidst predictions about the coming of the next Great Depression, Reshma Kapadia of SmartMoney decided to learn from money managers who actually lived through it. Her story was a Deadline Club finalist this year and won an Eddie award from FOLIO: magazine. Reshma writes:

“As pundits half their age dominate the airwaves with prognostications on whether the next Great Depression is just around the corner, a small group of overlooked folks who not just lived through it but worked through it — on Wall Street — are still here. What’s more, they’re still at it, running their own sizable portfolios and, in a few cases, managing money for clients. Despite innumerable bull and bear markets, 17 presidents, and countless economic policies, they’ve remained remarkably true to their investing philosophy.”

Her sources say another Depression isn’t going to happen because of all of the government protections, the diversification of industries trading on the stock market and the globalization of the economy.

Today’s Tip: Do your homework with reticent sources so they realize you are serious, Reshma says.

To find the three men, Reshma says she searched clips on financial industry people who had celebrated their 100th birthdays. She also contacted associations for investors to see if they knew of old-timers. Once she found them, the next step was convincing them to talk.

“They weren’t the easiest guys to convince to meet with me. Two of them declined at first, but I kept trying, even trying to enlist the help of a wife/son,” she says. “I figured out the things they’d be interested in and started the chat there. It helped that many of them were affiliated with Columbia Business School (either went there, taught there, etc.), and I had done a fellowship there.”

The men had lots of stories to tell, giving her gems such as how one of them had landed on President Nixon’s enemy list and had declined an invitation to dine with President George W. Bush by signing a letter, “Disrespectfully yours.”

“Get as much color as you can,” she says. “You never can have enough.” Here are tips on how to gather that color.