What I do

(Warning: non-food related)

A bunch of people have asked me things about the job and the industry, and to be honest I couldn't really give a complete answer until recently. Having finished a big chunk of my training though, I'm comfortable running through it now. I'll try to make it brief but as complete and simple as possible; some of the below may be obvious but don't take it as condescending.

Hedge funds. Kinda like the big brother of mutual funds, where a bunch of people pool in their money and an investment manager is responsible for turning that into more money. A few of the key differences: hedge funds are less regulated, they're allowed to use more strategies, they're harder to get into, and the managers take a cut of the proceeds. That's a pretty high level overview but it should suffice.

There are a lot of people involved in running a hedge fund. Roles can vary based on structure but there are a group of essential functions that need to be taken care regardless. You obviously need the people who are going to be researching and making the decisions as far as how to invest, and people who are throwing in the money. There are a lot of legal costs matters to address, and infrastructure costs like with any other business. Then a prime broker (often an investment bank) provides a bunch of services related to the actual  flow of money. There's other stuff too but I don't feel like thinking too hard at the moment. Anyway, the part where KRFS comes in is Fund Administration.

Fund administration involves a lot of things, the bulk of which (at least in the scope I work in) seem to be accounting related. Hence my title, fund accountant. This doesn't mean tax (though KR has a hedge fund tax department) or anything that a CPA does or anything related to that. Fund accountants are more or less responsible for keeping the books for hedge funds and making sure everyone's working with the same numbers-- the fund managers, the brokers, the investors, etc. Consistent and accurate books are vital when you're dealing with all that money, and it's pretty common for a fund to outsource the whole process to add 3rd party legitimacy to the whole thing.

So to clarify, I'm not working for a hedge fund. I'm working for a company that provides accounting related services for hedge funds. It's not exactly accounting, but it's not exactly finance. The job on a day to day basis involves tracking the funds' asset movements, valuing securities and portfolios, investigating discrepancies, and maintaining the records all so these people know exactly how much money they're raking in and that their vision is actually being executed on the books. Given all that, we're not compensated based on the performance of the fund-- it's a flat rate for these type of services, with a slight scale depending on the size/complexity factor of the fund. So regardless of how the economy is doing, the compensation for fund administrators will be stable.

Last note: the above is especially true because hedge funds intend make a consistent return regardless of the market, where mutual funds just try and lose less money when things are bad and make a bit more money when things are good. The people who get into hedge funds tend to be very knowledgeable and good at driving a consistent profit (albeit often with more risk, and the advantage of more tools to work with).

So you may be asking, why not invest in a hedge fund? Well first of all, since they're not all that regulated there's a lot of research that goes into picking a successful one. Of course, there can also be a lot of risk, because the managers can pull some wacky techniques to try and make a ton of money if they so choose. Also, there are minimum investment requirements, usually in the ballpark of, say, $1,000,000.

If you can get there though, it's fairly reasonable to grab a few % return per month when things are going well. So on a $1 million investment (which is very low, maybe below the minimum actually now that I think about it-- lots of people carry $10+ mil), if you're pulling 5%, that's $50,000 per month. Of course, they're going to charge you 2% just to manage your investment, which cuts you down to $30,000 per month. And then they're going to take 20% of the profit, which brings you down to $24,000 per month. These are all rough numbers, but you get the idea. If you can throw $10 million into even a decent fund, there's a good chance you pull in a million dollars profit over a year. Of course, you could also lose it.*

Still though, not bad if you can get into it.

*Side note: there's a type of hedge fund called a "fund of funds" which is a hedge fund that only invests in other hedge funds. The bad news is, you're basically paying your performance and management fees twice. The good news is, you're investing in a diverse portfolios of diverse portfolios so there's really a very high percent chance of making a small, positive return and very little chance of losing anything. It seems to me like pretty much the easiest way for rich people to stay rich with zero effort. So if you fall into $100 million or so and don't mind netting say $5 million per year, investing in a conservative FoF might be a good move... at least as far as I understand things.

Calle Ocho

I only have a couple things to say about the Calle Ocho festival since I didn't spend all that much time there. For those of you who aren't familiar (I'm not sure how well known this event is), once a year in Miami they hold what is purportedly "the world's largest block party" with over a million people coming through in one day. Last year, they set a record for the world's longest conga line with something over 110,000 people. It's been hosted by lots of famous people who originate from Miami (notably Gloria Estefan), but I'd never heard of the guy hosting this year. I was told it's a must see event, but also that I should go early and leave early since it can get a bit sketchy as it gets busier and less sober.

The theme of the event is basically a Latin heritage/pride celebration as far as I can tell. Basically the city blocks off the entire area on SW 8th street between 12th and 27th (Little Havana) and a giant organized carnival fills in with lots of authentic food, music, and entertainment from Cuba/DR/PR/Nicaragua/Mexico/Venezuela/etc. The event description says they set up 30 stages with live music and I wouldn't be surprised if that were accurate. It's effectively a 2 mile stretch of road in the middle of Miami that resembles an amusement park without all the rides.

I won't say I didn't enjoy it, because I had a good time soaking in the cultural stuff (which I'll get to in a second). But uh, you could say I wasn't exactly the target audience, which I probably should have anticipated based on the look the cab driver gave me when I told him where I was going. I don't mean to make this a race thing, but if I saw 80,000 people there, then 79,994 were Hispanic. To be expected I guess, but I got more than a few weird looks.

I showed up at about 11:15 and started by taking a walk from one end all the way to the other, opting to grab some food and entertainment on the way back once I had a sense for what was going on. The festival was 100% as advertised. Lots of authentic food and music. A stage where Flo Rida and Fat Joe were scheduled to play. At one point I got this feeling like I'd walked into Telemundo, then I realized I actually had walked into the section of the carnival sponsored by Telemundo. Not a lot of English being spoken overall. Lots of flags and people drumming up support for democracy in Cuba. Some freebies too, though the lines were generally long. (The longest lines were for free dental screenings..?) A bodypainting station that people weren't being shy about. People with snakes, people with parrots. A dude getting arrested before noon. A stage with country music, and 0 people watching.

I ate an arepa, which I don't think I've had before. So far as I could tell it's kind of a fried sweet cornmeal cake sandwich with cheese in the middle. Delicious, but I guess how could you mess that up? I also grabbed a chicken skewer with peppers and artichoke that was alright, and a side of black beans and rice. The flavors were there, though everything else suffered a bit as it was effectively being served out of a cart.

Rain was coming and I didn't have much else to do, so I took off around 1:45. Glad I went I guess, but I wouldn't say "can't miss."

Cooking adventure #2

Not nearly as successful. Attempted to make a dijon baked chicken with sauteed mushrooms and onions + a side of asparagus. Ran into the following issues:

• Realized I did not have a sharp knife, had to trim my chicken with a butter knife
• Still not having a sharp knife, had to cut onions + garlic with another butter knife
• Tried to steam asparagus, pot was not tall enough. Boiled, flipped over, boiled again
• Tried to pour water out of asparagus pot to free up a burner, asparagus fell out with it
• Instinctively reached out to catch asparagus, slight burn on right hand
• Realized my oven was actually a dishwasher; could not bake chicken
• Chicken was too thick, impossible to cook through without overcooking the outside

Other than that, pretty good though. The chicken came out more or less right all said and done, the dijon was a good call, veggies were great, even the asparagus somehow came out in that tolerable zone that's not mushy/stringy/hard.

Random thoughts

Work is good, very busy though. I feel like I actually have things to do and accomplish so the time kinda flies by, and I end up staying late (as does pretty much everyone) without worrying about it. I'm looking forward to being done with this training and actually working.

As far as I can tell the weather has been a bit disappointing. Probably 70-80 most of the day/night, mixing in some clouds and showers. The locals love it because it's not sweltering hot. Frankly I wouldn't be upset with sweltering hot. I mean, it's nice out, I guess I really don't see the outside between 830 and 630 except briefly when going to lunch anyway. I have 0% of a tan (not that I care).

I ate at an Italian place in the Cocowalk last night, which is kind of the heart of the restaurants and shops in this area. The food wasn't worth talking about but I had an interesting conversation with a barker out there. I asked him what's good to do in the area since it seemed pretty dead, and he basically said the area was depressed because of the economy. I guess when people vacation less it makes sense that the less interesting tourist destinations suffer first (even if you were gonna vacation to Miami, Coconut Grove probably wouldn't be your first choice). So now half the shops and bars are closed down and traffic is very light.

Cooking adventure #1

If this is the first time you're seeing this blog, scroll down to the bottom. (Blogger doesn't allow you to organize your posts in chronological order for some reason). If you're wondering why I waited until day 3 to share this blog though, it's because it just didn't feel right until I had an official cooking post. So here goes.

I decided to start cooking for a few reasons. The local restaurants don't seem to be great, plus they're progressively inconvenient to get to. I'd also like to eat healthy, and there's an upscale-ish grocery right next to my office. I also have a $50 per diem for food, and a pretty decent kitchen setup in my hotel room. Add it all together and it's time for the return of:

HOT DOGS AND EGSS!

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Just kidding, I have $50/day to spend on food.

1.1lb seared Yellowfin Tuna steak seasoned with sea salt and cracked pepper, served over a salad of mixed greens and red pepper with a dressing of oil and fresh squeezed lemon juice.

Not bad right? Originally I was gonna grab a pre-made rotisserie chicken but I picked out the first thing in the store that jumped at me, and it just so happens that the first thing to jump at me was a $26 piece of fresh yellowfin tuna. Came out pretty good actually, though the fish should have been seasoned more evenly.

Unfortunately I'm all out of ideas for what to make over the next few weeks, so if anyone has a suggestion or challenge...?

Ceviche and a beer

[Beginning of boring stuff]

Long day... slept from about 1-6 (not straight through), work 830-6, gym, etc. Company seems great though, very high tech, good people, nice perks/benefits, material is interesting. Met a million people, don't remember their names. No need to really document anything about KRFS because I'll be there for a while, ask me directly if you have any questions.

[End of boring stuff]

Food report: went out for lunch with some team members and ended up at a decent (touristy) Latin American restaurant right in the shopping heart of Coconut Grove. The name of the place was Jaguar, and though Jaguar doesn't identify as one particular national/ethnic style, both of the girls I ate with were Cuban and unimpressed. The girls were also unable to give me a good recommendation for Cuban food because they cook it themselves instead of going out... For me though, it was a pretty solid lunch. Their equivalent of pre-meal bread was blue corn chips and pita chips (both probably from a bag, meh) and some fried plantain chips with a pretty delicious tomatoey sauce that I can best describe as "not exactly salsa". Lunch was grilled mahi-mahi, it was a goodish piece of fish. Kinda thin but a perfect amount of oily and only a little bland, cooked well, and a served with a very complimentary pesto based sauce that I didn't think I'd enjoy. The side of black beans and rice, however, was very disappointing. I'll swim to Cuba if I have to...

I wanted to grab something quick for dinner so I decided to give the hotel's restaurant a try. They claim to have the best ceviche in Coconut Grove so I ordered a combo appetizer; their snapper and tuna were supposed to be best so I got two and one respectively. Verdict? Not bad. The fish was all good quality but the snapper was overly citrusy to the point where I couldn't really taste the fish, and the tuna was a bit bland and more in a conventional Asian style. I tried an unfamiliar Peruvian beer with it, which may have been the highlight.

Oh, and 1 ceviche appetizer + 1 beer? $30.

Off to a good start

I had to go through one of those TSA full body scanners for the first time today, and while the guard was walking me through it I asked him if this was the new machine that everybody hates. He was not amused.

A few brief observations from the flight:

• Drinking coffee is counterproductive both towards sleeping on the plane and keeping a new shirt unstained during turbulence.
• The view out the window is really kind of special during sunset when you're near the cloud level. From above you can see red light shining through the thin clouds in contrast against the puffy grey clouds and it looks kind of like lava on a volcano; from below it looks like someone's shining red lights on a ceiling.
• Reruns of "The Office" are just as entertaining with the sound on as with the sound off. That is to say, not very entertaining.

I'll hesitate to make a judgement about Miami overall, but my first impressions are pretty mixed. The airport seems fine and the area near the hotel is nice, but a lot of what's between seemed a bit sketchy. I really can't tell what's going on in this city. There seems to be a pattern of four, short, spaced out buildings that repeats itself from the airport until the Coconut Grove area: lawyer, cosmetic surgeon/salon, mysterious unmarked building, auto services, lawyer, cosmetic surgeon/salon, mysterious unmarked building, auto services...

You'll know you've reached Coconut Grove when you reach the KRFS headquarters, and the hotel I'm staying at is just two streets over from there. There are dozens of nice looking shops and restaurants clustered around the hotel too, though tonight there's barely anyone out. I guess I shouldn't be surprised since it's Sunday, but it's still feels a bit off kilter because it's apparent how lively this area can get. The atmosphere is borderline post-apocalyptic in that sense, albeit much more cheerful.

I'll do more work in exploring the hotel and neighborhood over the coming week. Updates to come.