Project for Philosophical Evaluations of the Economy |
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Thumbs down on Sallie Krawcheck
Dialog on the new Head of Wealth Management at Bank of America, first drafted on Aug. 5, published
on Aug. 24, 2009
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Question by Alter Ego of Noah denkt™ (AE): What do you make of the nomination of Sallie Krawcheck as Head of
Wealth Management at Bank of America?
Answer by Noah denkt™ (Nd): Well, we have seen her once in a interview on television. And frankly, she did not
convince us there. You could even say that we were somewhat baffled by the fact that someone who is so
entrenched in conventional wisdom would be revered so much by the financial community.
AE: So you consider it the wrong move by Bank of America to hire her for the wealth management job?
Nd: Yes. And we even find it more appalling that her nomination is seen as the first step of her turning into Ken
Lewis’ successor.
AE: Now, obviously, it cannot get much worse that Mr. Lewis at the helm of Bank of America, can it?
Nd: We agree. It seems inevitable to us that he will have to go, in particular, after the comments that Mr. Bernanke
made about his leadership during the Merrill Lynch takeover.
AE: What comments are you referring to here?
Nd: Well, don’t you recall Mr. Bernanke’s testimony to the House Finance committee in which he made it clear that
the FED, at one point, had severe doubts over the competence of the BofA management. In this context, it really
doesn’t surprise us that Mr. Lewis is on his way out now, and that in the process he could not find anyone better
than Ms. Krawcheck to follow him.
AE: Okay, now I am back in the picture. – But let’s go back to Ms. Krawcheck for a minute! Do you really believe
that watching one interview of her on television is enough to voice an educated opinion about her and her
capabilities?
Nd: Well, employers hire people all the time on the basis of one interview. So we do not see, why we should not
be able to act on a similar basis here.
AE: But you are not talking about an average employee here. Much rather are we dealing with an executive
leadership position that holds considerable responsibilities. Would that not warrant an in-depth assessment
process?
Nd: May be. But then again, we only have what’s been given to us, to make a call on the feasibility of her
nomination. So we have to go with that, don’t we?
AE: Would it not be better to simply shut up and not voice our opinion in this case given the limited information we
have.
Nd: No. Our intuition on Ms. Krawcheck appears sufficiently strong to us to put in on the line.
AE: That’s very brave of you!
Nd: Well, that’s how we are, isn’t it?
AE: In conclusion then, are you skeptical about the future of the BofA share price?
Nd: In the long run, yes.
Dialog on the new Head of Wealth Management at Bank of America, first drafted on Aug. 5, published
on Aug. 24, 2009
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Question by Alter Ego of Noah denkt™ (AE): What do you make of the nomination of Sallie Krawcheck as Head of
Wealth Management at Bank of America?
Answer by Noah denkt™ (Nd): Well, we have seen her once in a interview on television. And frankly, she did not
convince us there. You could even say that we were somewhat baffled by the fact that someone who is so
entrenched in conventional wisdom would be revered so much by the financial community.
AE: So you consider it the wrong move by Bank of America to hire her for the wealth management job?
Nd: Yes. And we even find it more appalling that her nomination is seen as the first step of her turning into Ken
Lewis’ successor.
AE: Now, obviously, it cannot get much worse that Mr. Lewis at the helm of Bank of America, can it?
Nd: We agree. It seems inevitable to us that he will have to go, in particular, after the comments that Mr. Bernanke
made about his leadership during the Merrill Lynch takeover.
AE: What comments are you referring to here?
Nd: Well, don’t you recall Mr. Bernanke’s testimony to the House Finance committee in which he made it clear that
the FED, at one point, had severe doubts over the competence of the BofA management. In this context, it really
doesn’t surprise us that Mr. Lewis is on his way out now, and that in the process he could not find anyone better
than Ms. Krawcheck to follow him.
AE: Okay, now I am back in the picture. – But let’s go back to Ms. Krawcheck for a minute! Do you really believe
that watching one interview of her on television is enough to voice an educated opinion about her and her
capabilities?
Nd: Well, employers hire people all the time on the basis of one interview. So we do not see, why we should not
be able to act on a similar basis here.
AE: But you are not talking about an average employee here. Much rather are we dealing with an executive
leadership position that holds considerable responsibilities. Would that not warrant an in-depth assessment
process?
Nd: May be. But then again, we only have what’s been given to us, to make a call on the feasibility of her
nomination. So we have to go with that, don’t we?
AE: Would it not be better to simply shut up and not voice our opinion in this case given the limited information we
have.
Nd: No. Our intuition on Ms. Krawcheck appears sufficiently strong to us to put in on the line.
AE: That’s very brave of you!
Nd: Well, that’s how we are, isn’t it?
AE: In conclusion then, are you skeptical about the future of the BofA share price?
Nd: In the long run, yes.
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| Conflict of Interest Statement with respect to Bank of America Q: Does Wil Leonards hold shares in BofA? A: No Q: Has Wil Leonards done consulting work for BofA? A: No Q: Does he intend to develop a commercial relationship with BofA? A: No Q: Do members of Wil Leonards' family hold shares in BofA? A: No Q: Have members of Wil Leonards' family done consulting work for BofA? A: No Q: Does a member of his family intend to develop a commercial relationship with BofA? A: No |
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