G20 Interruption

Sorry about this. That last final piece of this epic Goldman Sachs series, where I tell you exactly what to do with your money is going to have to wait. It's time to drop everything and witness what is one of the strangest spectacles in the world: the G20. The most important closed-door meeting ever to be held in Toronto.

My friend Andy has invited me to be the Yin to his Yang on this page: G20 Balance Sheet

Although Andy and I have a lot in common, we don't always see eye-to-eye on many of the contentious political issues. But together, we figured we'll provide balance on a lot of the issues at play. This is complete coverage, we'll get into the issues tabled at the actual meeting, as well as the shit-show that's taking place outside. In this blog I try my best to avoid politics, but over the next couple of weeks I'll have to drop all of that, because everything is contentious and everything is political. There will be a giant crowd and every single person will be standing for a reason and I want to know why.

Here's a little excerpt from our G20 website about my relationship with Andy, where we are coming from and what we're setting out to do:
_____________________________

Umar, speaking about Andy

Somewhere under the ownership of Ernst & Young, one of the largest accounting firms in the world, in their Bermuda office security tapes, there are telephone conversations that went like this (think Borat):

- Andy speaking.

- Naaaaace!

- Yekshemesh!

- Successsss

- Naace.

- May I speak to a one man they call Andy?

- Naaace! That is me! Please talk.

- Success! Are you naaace?

- Yes! Riiaaaaaight! I have a laaaeeemp at my desk! I am very naaaace.”

- Chenkoui.

- Chenkwaaay

This was the typical phone conversation between Andy and myself while at work. In Bermuda, Andy and I lived together while working for different companies. I was an auditor chasing hedge funds and wagging my finger all the way, while Andy learned the finer points of relating to big-time investors and their bags of money. Luck and circumstance brought us together, but the thing that truly unites us is that gut feeling that we didn’t belong in the industry of money. We had always felt like outsiders.

Here we are, almost a decade later, and a very expensive private meeting about global money matters is coming to our City. I am honoured to work with The Schnerg, a most insightful and witty writer, and as I recall, once a savvy street-smart VP in the investment industry. I’m excited to cover what is already becoming a spectacle without an event. It’s fairly obvious the G20 Summit of 2010 is important. We’re going to try and show you why.

Andy, speaking about Umar:

I first met Umar when he moved to Bermuda and was looking for a place to stay. It’s entirely possible that when I found out a Brown Canadian Chartered Accountant (Umar Saeed, BCAA) was interested in renting a room in my apartment, I thought to myself, “Zzzzzzzzz. At least the rent will get paid on time.” But I would never admit that publicly.

As it happened, all my preconceptions were wrong (except the one about the rent). Umar isn’t your typical accountant. For one, he has interests beyond adding and subtracting. Interests like art, music, writing, and having open conversations about current affairs. Hell, the guy wrote a novel about post 9-11 Washington and anti-Muslim sentiment. Does your guy at H&R Block do that?

Whether he’s debating the finer points of Cito Gaston’s coaching decisions, explaining for the umpteenth time how the sub-prime collapse happened, swimming in the ocean at midnite, writing for his blog, or just enjoying a bucket of fried chicken, the dude stays level-headed and open-minded at all times, and always seems to enjoy the moment. These are qualities that I admire, and wish I had more of myself.

So it was no surprise to me that we found ourselves leaving the financial services industry at the same time. We are birds of a feather, and don’t understand the beast that is big banking. Working for a giant, faceless corporation that thrives on conformity, waste and inefficiency had its perks for a while, but just wasn’t worth the pain and suffering in the long run.

In his mind, I think Umar sees himself as a middle of the road, moderate kind of guy, with firm but fair views. To me, he’s an idealist who hasn’t lost sight of reality. Somebody that knows an anarchist state isn’t likely to happen, and even less likely to succeed. Somebody that would love for all of us to share wealth equally, but is too wise to the game to think the guys at the top will allow it. So rather than beat his head against a wall, he looks for practical, workable solutions that could help as many people as possible to life’s problems, big and small.