As a result of the 2022-11-28 WILT post, a former Capital Markets client inquired about what Lars was going to do professionally in 2023. We then had a long conversation in which we:
- Discussed a common long-held view about the value of personal relationships,
- Reviewed the concept "Your word is your bond" and how that concept and ethics have largely disappeared in the Internet age,
- Chewed over just how bad the 2022 losses will be in the fixed-income sector and the implications of negative 15% total returns,
- Debated what is next for mortgage-backed securities given the rise in rates from below 3% to about 7% today,
- Critiqued what might lay ahead for digital assets, especially given the recent FTX Trading/Alameda Research debacle,
- Talked about cultural wars and just how much noise/signal is in discourse about the concepts of ESG, DEI, Zero carbon, CRT, and the Woke/Progressive movement, and
- Reminded ourselves how uncertainty is akin to Superman's "Kryptonite" in both the capital markets and real estate markets.
It was quite an enlightening discussion. Thus, he was initially shocked by the "audacious idea" of what to do professionally for 2023. After further elaboration, he conceded there was some value in the thought, especially since Lars started to trade for Lehman Brothers in a vicious 1984 bear market. The "crazy" thought is to join a residential/small commercial brokerage team even though employment in that sector will likely contract greatly with much higher rates and sharply reduced residential transaction volumes.
What do you think? BRC FinTech is particularly interested in thoughts from current realtors and/or capital markets participants. Please send along your comments to Lars'email. Thanks.
Further reading on realtor employment: https://therealdeal.com/2022/11/04/cracks-show-in-real-estate-employment/