majorbanks,oneriskis thepossibilitythatanissuermightnot
beabletopay.)FisherInvestmentsis oneofthebiggestETN
playersintheworld,with$6billionofclients’moneyinvested
inthemlastyear,makingupa quarterofthemarket.Thecom-
panysaysitsETNsarelessvolatilethanmostindividualstocks
andworkinitsportfoliostoreduceriskrelativetoreturn.
Themaininvestmentstrategyheusesforwealthycli-
ents’accountshastrailedthebenchmarkthefirmusesover
thepastdecadebyaboutonepercentagepointannualized.
Overthepastthreeandfiveyears,however,it hasbeaten
thesameindexbya percentagepointannually,accordingto
thecompany.Theportfoliosheruns
forinstitutions tendtohave lower
fees,andsomehaveperformedbet-
ter.ForFlorida’spensionfund,the
firmreturned,onaverage, 2 percent-
agepointsperyearaboveitsbench-
markoverthepast 10 years.
Nodoubt,leaningintoa bullmar-
kethasbeengoodforFisher.Afterall,
thisone’sbeengoingformorethana
decade.Cardona,theFisherclient,says
shehasconfidenceinher100%stock
portfolioandalsolikesthecustomer
serviceshegets.Asfortheremarks
thatgotFisherintrouble,shesayspeo-
plearetoopoliticallycorrectthese
days.“Whathesaysdoesn’tbotherme
asit doesn’timpactthe401(k),”says
Cardona,whois 74.
Ina bearmarketthecompany’saggressivestancecan
backfire.Fisherfacedatleasta dozenlegalclaimsfromcus-
tomerswholostmoneyinthe 2008 financialcrisis.Clients
allegedthatthecompanyadvertiseda tailoredapproach
whileputtingeveryoneinthesamestocks,misledthem
aboutrisks,orfailedtobuildsuitableportfolios.Mostwere
resolvedinarbitration,wheretheoutcomewasn’talways
public.OnearbitratororderedFishertopayout$376,000
indamagestoa retireeinNewOrleanswhosignedupin
September 2007 andlost57%ofher$876,000nesteggina
littlemorethana year.Butinsomeothercases,arbitrators
sidedwithFisher,sayingthatclientshadsoughtout“growth”
portfoliosofstocks,understoodtheriskstheyweretaking,
andwouldhaveprosperedif theyhadriddenoutthedown-
turnasthecompanyadvised.
SeveralformeremployeessayFisherwouldidentifyclients
whoknowprominentpeople—suchaslawyers,politicians,and
journalists—flaggingthemincasetheybecameunhappywith
theirinvestments.A 2015corporatescripttellsinvestmentcoun-
selorstodeterminewhethercustomershavesuchhigh-profile
peopleintheir“sphereofinfluence.”Fisherdeniestheeffort
wasdesignedtoprotectthecompany.Instead,hesays,the
scriptwaspartofa since-abandonedefforttocreatea panel
ofexpertsthecompanycouldharnessforresearch.“Thiswas
effectivelyaninnovativeattemptthatfailed,”hesays.
n responsetothenegativepublicity about Fisher, the
companyintroduceda counteroffensive. On Oct. 29,
Hitchcock,the20-yearveteranand senior executive,
askedhundredsofwomenemployees to gather for a
last-minutemeetingatCamasandthreeother main offices. She
askedthemtosignreleasespermittingthem to appear in photos
foranadcampaign.Morethan1,000employees, or more than
a quarterofFisher’sworkforce,arewomen, and 350 appeared
inthead,thecompanysays.Full-pagespreads would ultimately
runintheWallStreetJournal, theDallasMorning News, and
newspapersacrossthecountryundertheheadline “You Heard
TheirStory.NowHear Ours.” Along
withthegroupphoto, it featured seven
seniorwomenoffering testimonials
aboutthecompany’s integrity, ethics,
andempowerment of women.
Privatelysome of the women in
theadsaytheyfeltpressuretopartic-
ipate. Ininterviewsotherssaythey
weredelightedtovouchforthecom-
pany.“Peoplearetreatedequallyhere
regardlessofrace,gender, and culture,”
saysJessicaSmith,a FisherInvestments
vicepresident.“Thisisa placethat
reallystrivestodo what’s best for our
clients,andthat’smuch different from
anindustrythat’sjust trying to make
money.”Thewoman-focused campaign
referredreaderstoa website that asked
forphonenumbers, addresses, and
emails—makingit a sourceoffreshsalesleads.
BackinhisWoodsidemountainredoubt, Fisher says he’s
proudoftheculturehe’sbuilt,bothfor men and women.
(Thecompanyhaslauncheda diversityand inclusion task
force.)“BusinessweekBestPlacestoLaunch a Career,” reads
anawardintheoffice.Ashedidwhenevoking the days of
thefamilyfarm,hecansoundlikea kind of patriarch as he
mournswhathecalls“aworldthatdoesn’t exist anymore but
existedwhenI wasveryyoung.”Fisherwants young people
tojoinhiscompanyoutofcollegeandstay until they retire,
astheydidintheageoftheIBMlifer.Herevels in noting man-
agerswhohavebeenwithhimfordecades. Ever since the
backlashagainsthiscommentsbegan,Fisher has expressed
bewildermentthatoutsiderswouldreact so strongly. “I real-
izedthatthere’snoplaceforthatinthework world in any way
atall,andI committedmyselftoneversaying words like that
againoranythingslikethatagainever,”he says.
Duringtheinterviewhespeaksslowly, as if measuring his
words,andpausesfrequently.Fishersayshis own employees,
withwhomhe’slongworkedsidebyside,never said anything
tohimwhenhemadeanoff-coloranalogy—not once, not ever.
“ThosepeopleknowthatI’mnotperfect,” he says. “But they
alsodon’tgetoffendedbyanythingthat I do because they
knowhowhardI tryforthemandhavetried for them for a
really long time.” <BW> �With Janet LorinBloomberg Businessweek February 10, 2020
Fisher built his business on savvy media45