WORLDVIEW: The name games money managers play – and how they hurt investors

After his 80th birthday Warren Buffett dispensed with what for me was the best reason for that annual 26 hour trip from Johannesburg to Omaha for the Berkshire AGM. Fortunately, I still have the notebooks of those very special Sunday afternoon press conferences. Events where 30 or so fortunates had the opportunity to each pose a question to Buffett and business partner Charlie Munger. Their responses were priceless.

In between questions, Buffett loved teasing us. His favourite was that we need to tell the dirty secret about money managers. Do the homework on their returns, he urged, and you'll be telling your readers to buy ETFs instead of falling for the hucksters of Wall Street. But I'm not holding my breath that those stories will be published, he would add, because your bosses know who has the marketing dollars.

My Biznews colleague Jackie Cameron picks up the theme in today's contribution. She writes: "The financial services industry puts a huge collective effort into coming up with names that will entice us to buy their products. Popping words like wealth into a fund label helps drum up interest; terms like 'alpha' – performance above-and-beyond market returns – help sway more discerning crowds.

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