Who is Raoul Pal?
Raoul Pal: From Hedge Funds to Cryptocurrency
Everybody has had dreams and visions of becoming rich at some point in their lives. Some of them have even taken the next step on the journey to earning those riches. Whichever course of action they decide to take in this pursuit, it would take an incredible amount of preparation and study. Maybe they decide they’re going to start a business. Perhaps they’ll invest in real estate. But, in terms of high-paying jobs, one of the most sought-after and lucrative careers is that of a hedge fund manager.
A hedge fund manager is an individual who manages, makes investment decisions, and oversees the operations of pooled funds of different companies or individuals. Many times, these hedge fund managers have made the Forbes 500 list. Just in 2020, some of these notable hedge fund managers included Jim Simmons whose net worth is $23.5 billion, Ray Dalio with a net worth of $16.9 billion, and Ken Griffin with a net worth of $15 billion.
There’s something else to think about though. While the prospect of millions upon millions of dollar is incredibly attractive, the job itself is one of the most stressful out there. There are even some former hedge fund managers who have removed themselves from the industry to pursue other ventures. They will tell you how hard it is and some will even advise against going into it.
One of these former managers is a man named Raoul Pal. Throughout the early stages of his adult life, he was one of the brightest financial minds among his colleagues. His career started off as a trainer of traders in technical analytics. From there, he moved up to different positions in investment companies such as Natwest Markets and HSBC. One of his first positions of significant grandeur was as a co-manager of Goldman Sachs where he helped oversee the hedge fund sales business in Equities and Equity Derivatives in Europe. Eventually, his intellect and bright mind took him to be co-manager of a discretionary investment management firm called GLG Partners. This firm was and still is one of the largest hedge fund groups in the world. It was here where Raoul Pal was able make the majority of his multi-millions of dollars before retiring in 2004 at the age of 36.
Looking back on it, Pal is able to lend a piece of advice to anyone who is considering following the same path that he did: don’t do it. He made comments such as this in a Facebook Live interview with Matt Turner of Business Insider. Pal said that he would constantly get emails from different people, asking him how to get into the industry. His response was simple: “Don’t bother. Managers don’t get paid anymore. They work really hard hours, the stress is ludicrous, the amount of assets you are able to raise is not easy anymore.”
On top of this, the industry has changed from what it once was. While Pal was definitely making an incredible amount of money, he noticed the shift and knew it was his time to retire. “People aren’t taking the risks anymore. The old days of Julian Robertson or George Soros making 100% returns have gone.” Although Raoul Pal retired from the hedge fund business, he wasn’t done in the world of finance…..not by a long shot.
In 2014, Pal helped design an on-demand television program called Million Dollar Traders for the BBC which “helps you understand the complex world of finance, business and the global economy with real in-depth analysis from real experts.” While in the throws of being a huge hedge fund manager, he was stuck in the rat race of the elites and financial wolves. But, now that he is out of that world, Pal has been focusing a majority of his efforts in educating other people about finances. According to his company’s website Real Vision Group it says “Our mission is to democratize quality financial research so that everyone, not just the financial elite, can get the honest truth about what’s really going on in the financial markets.”
In recent years, Raoul Pal has been turning some heads and making headlines. In his days as an investor, Raoul was one of a relatively small number of investors to predict the mortgage crisis of 2008–2009. His ability to read the current markets and make calls about financial futures is well known. Using that same method, Raoul Pal has made yet another prediction involving the strength and importance of the cryptocurrency Bitcoin.
On February 5th, 2021, Pal was featured on a MoneWeek podcast and spoke on the institutional attention that Bitcoin was attracting. He said “Bitcoin is destroying all other assets in the world, and I’ve have never seen this before in my career where an asset has drawn the attention of the likes of Elon Musk and mainstream institutions like no other asset.” Later on in the interview, Pal went on to say, “Bitcoin is basically eating the world. It’s destroying all other assets in terms of performance. So, you and I know that once people see that, it tends to become self-fulfilling. It becomes a reflexive loop. I’ve literally never seen this in my whole career, where something is so dominant as a trade.”
The subject of cryptocurrency has been Raoul Pal’s single biggest focus since 2014 when he started his television station. For so many years, he was deep in the heart of what drives global economies. Through that time, he saw that the currency system that so many people rely on is on the brink of collapse and that other, more stable, forms of currency are the wave of the future.
Anyone who has been paying attention to the dynamic market of Bitcoin has no doubt noticed that its value has dramatically increased over the last four years. This trend is not only predicted to increase, it is foretasted by many, including Pal, to explode. In a recent interview, the former hedge fund manager stated that Bitcoin could reach over $1 million in the next five years. “After all, it isn’t just a currency or even a store of value. It is an entire trusted, verified, secure financial and accounting system of digital value that can never be created outside of the cryptographic algorithm.” Later, he added, “It is nothing short of the future of our entire medium of exchange system, and of money itself and the platform on which it operates.”
Speaking to the legitimacy of Raoul Pal, he has not only been preaching about the amazing possibilities of Bitcoin. He has also been investing his own assets into the ever-growing cryptocurrency. His first purchases of Bitcoin were back in 2012 when it was still in its infancy stages. At first, it seemed like more of an investment opportunity. However, as time went on, it was realized that things would turn into much more.
“So, that’s why I started to buy more and more Bitcoin. Technically, the setup is right. Obviously, we had the halving, and just the adoption phase — what’s happening with the institutions — it’s like the perfect timing.”
Going on to tout his love of Bitcoin and to encourage others to invest, Pal took to Twitter saying, “The supermassive black hole is going to suck in everything. Again, this is the best trade/investment and future opportunity I have EVER found and it has the power to give the little guy a chance to grab their share of the wealth creation before Wall Street does. Grab it.”
So, where does this CEO and former hedge fund manager stand in terms of investment to Bitcoin on his own? Over the last few months, Pal has sold nearly all of his stocks and gold in order to invest as much as possible into the cryptocurrency. At the present time, he has nearly 98% of his net worth invested in crypto.
What a testament to the strength of cryptocurrency. The way it was designed and the impact it has had on various financial institutions all across the world has been awe inspiring. This one-time hedge fund manager and financial genius has done more than just spoken about the amazing benefits and securities involved in the investment of Bitcoin. What is more is that he is part of a growing number of billionaires that are getting the jump on this new form of currency; people such as Elon Musk and Michael Saylor. The combined insight from these powerhouses of business and technology is almost enough on its own to speak to the potential benefits that Bitcoin could provide to people. As time goes on, there is little doubt that we will be seeing other companies and CEOs moving towards the realm of cryptocurrency. The only real question to ask ourselves is, “When should we act?”
