What type of investor would they be?
We are big GoT fans. With the hit TV show returning to HBO for its final season, we couldn’t resist drawing some parallels between what we see in our finance world and the personalities of some of the main characters from the show. Hope you enjoy!
Daenerys Targaryen: Daenerys would undoubtedly be a “Unicorn Investor.” In the investing world, a Unicorn is a private company worth upwards of $1 billion with the potential to change the world. Think Uber, Lyft, AirBNB, Snapchat, and Pinterest. I mean – she’s the Mother of Dragons for crying out loud! Daenerys had the power to change the world, and she captured the hearts and minds of both allies and enemies alike WHILE ruthlessly destroying her competition. Her views of the world and vigorous drive to succeed resemble the same motivations of some of these visionary CEOs like Mark Zuckerberg or Elon Musk. She stopped at nothing to achieve her dreams. Investing in Unicorn companies would satisfy this need if Daenerys were an investor rather than a queen trying to conquer the Seven Kingdoms!
Tywin Lannister: Tywin has Dividend Aristocrat written all over him. Dividend (get cash) + Aristocrat (rich person) = how can this not be Tywin Lannister! He values reputation, stability, and consistency. A Dividend Aristocrat is a public company that has paid an increasing dividend for the past 25 years. These companies tend to be “rock solid”, meaning even the worst recessions or financial crises don’t stop their ability to generate growing profits. “A Lannister always pays their debts,” is the Middle-Ages equivalent to “a Dividend Aristocrat always pays their dividend.”
Cersei Lannister: The evil queen! Cersei’s disregard for ethics and righteousness make her the perfect “Sin Stock” investor. A sin stock is any company that generates their profits through “sin” activities such as gambling, tobacco, alcohol, cannabis, etc. Cersei, despite her lack of moral code, is amazingly successful at consolidating power and destroying her enemies. Historically, the returns of sin stocks have beaten the general market by a wide margin. The addiction and destruction of human welfare – oh don’t worry about that – as long as the returns are good! Cersei used any weakness in her enemy to her advantage, to enrich herself and her family, and she was willing to cross any ethical boundary to do it. With that attitude, this evil queen would be the first in line to purchase a portfolio of sin stocks – getting those good returns no matter what the cost…
Jon Snow: If Contrarian Investing ever had a poster child, it’s Jon Snow! This is a guy that was supposedly born a “bastard”, he was captured by Wildlings, the poor guy was killed and [SPOILER ALERT] brought back to life, AND he ends up becoming rightful heir to the Iron Throne. Jon Snow, like Contrarian Investing, is the ultimate underdog. No one expected him to be successful, everyone bet against him, yet time after time, he emerged victorious. This is text-book contrarian investing – going against the grain and going against conventional wisdom. Taking a risk in something that everyone writes off but coming out on top. Chipotle Mexican Grill, for example, was written off by many investors in 2016-2017 after food safety concerns took the stock price down from $720 to $270, a -60% loss, but contrarian investors have prevailed after the company’s comeback and stock price recovery. This would have been a total Jon Snow stock!
We hope you enjoyed this just-for-fun post. If you think we missed any other obvious parallels, please leave a comment and let us know!