How Ken Fisher's 'girl's pants' remarks set off an RIA-led tweet firestorm that became a slow-burn PR disaster that remains uncontained

'Billionaire Ken Fisher' you might have estimatef his character from the tacky, groveling, crap scented advertisements he lays everywhere on the internet

All the tweets and media coverage of his comments caused more harm to the environment through an increased carbon footprint, than did harm to the collective psyche of everyone who heard or read the comments.

Shas, are you lost? water boy tryouts are in Weinstein's dungeon

Shas -- you do know he lost $600M of assets from the state of Michigan already, right?

There has been a lot of huffing and puffing about these stupid comments -- but isn't the way to handle stupid comments to vote with your feet and yank investment accounts from Fisher's firm rather than puff up your woke status on social media by denigrating Fisher? I think Alex made a fine statement (I saw it shortly after he posted it), and I have no reason to cover Fisher's backside, but ... c'mon folks.

This is how his company, Fisher Investments, operates as well. There are far more men than women at that company, and I think part of the reason is because the company is living in the past. Maternity (and paternity) leave benefits are still sub-par, there's very little schedule flexibility for employees (especially if they have families) outside of a strict 20-days PTO policy, and their Investment Policy Committee doesn't have a single woman on it. The company routinely responds to its employees' requests to give back to the community, partner with charities and form affinity groups by saying things like "we're not that type of company". Their backward-thinking policies will be the demise of the company.

A number of mistakes were made here: - Chip Roame should have left Fisher of the invitee list due to his reputation - Fisher delivered pig 101 for all to see - Chalekian should have protested to Roame before putting his video out on Twitter Now that Fisher has been rightfully banned from Tiburon and is losing assets due to his poor behavior, Chalekian should be banned from Tiburon for violating the clear policy around his actions. Actions that are a clear winner but he still violated the policy. So Chalekian wins by losing and Tiburon goes on as usual next year without Fisher and Chalekian. Hopefully female attendees feel more comfortable at industry conferences knowing that pigs will be called out for bad behavior in the future...

Having worked at Tiburon Strategic Advisors and having been involved in the CEO Summits, I can attest to the fact that Tiburon is an Old Boys Club and Chip has said some questionable things as well.

Many out of bounds that to be mentioned surrounding this fiasco Ken Fisher - demonstrating himself to be an unremorseful chauvinist pig. Astonished that his prior remarks from being onstage with Downtown Josh Brown in 2018 didn’t garner more attention and blowback that would keep him exiled from ever being on stage or handed hot microphone ever again Chip Roame - self-satisfied open later and smug tone regarding Tiburon CEO event policy as if it were gospel scripture from the Old Testament And attention monger opportunist and coattail rider Gavin Spitzner authoring Thank You Ken Fisher to Investment news

"It will take a long time for the financial services industry to correct these age-old problems" --Anthony. It's been nearly 50 years! I'm sure there are some women in the industry who have dealt with the verbal (and physical) abuse longer than that. I and others had to deal with such words and actions in the trading or broker rooms in the 1970's 1980's, etc. Even after laws were passed about sexual harassment, we feared loosing our jobs or being blacklisted if we said something. Many of us said something anyway. Hearing this type of verbal abuse is still going on saddens me. I'm sure it's just the tip of the iceberg regarding the reality of what's really happening. The 1970's were nearly 50 years ago. Will it take another 50 years to fix the problem? And, IMO, the problem isn't just about having more women in the business. I don't think, if there were more women in the room, that the comments wouldn't have been spoken. Thank you to those who spoke up! You speaking up sends a loud and clear message to the industry. My question is, other than banning speakers who use such words, what can be done so that it doesn't take 50 or 100 years for this type of talk to end?

Maria, I have some strong opinions on the matter about what it'll take. None of them are palatable for anyone. There is a one-word common denominator: courage. And courage demands taking a risk -- like Alex did. We are risk averse in this business. I am sketching a column (don't hold me to a deadline) about how that needs to translate to action when it comes to men, women, speakers, conference organizers, reporters, publishers, firms and vendors. There seems to be much fear of fear itself -- maybe a Wall Street hangover -- that goes beyond latent or explicit sexism. We all seem to err on the side of a comfy bro culture and staying on the good side of the alpha bros. -Brooke

Courage is a good word. What comes to mind is respect for ones self and the people around them. Also some negativity: Egos the size of watermelons. Immaturity. Bullies. People in high places and power plays. The culture of a firm of any size comes from the owner(s). 50 years ago, I feared that I wouldn't be believed and worse, be fired if I reported the sexist behavior or put downs. And there were no laws to protect us till the ?late? 70's or early 80's. Even then, situations were too difficult to substantiate. Then there is the negative talk that I don't know where it comes from that somehow "we are to blame for the ugly behavior of another", which of course isn't true. Many figured, why bother to report. We'd be blacklisted if we went too far in the reporting process. I reported 2 or 3 people to their superiors after long consideration and harassments -- and did not get fired - but the fear was there. It took the firms quite a while to fire the jerks. But it did happen. There were other incidents that I didn't report. What the incidents I dealt with or helped other women deal with had in common were that the abuser was a higher ups in the industry. I look forward to reading your article when it's done.

Maria, I am truly sorry you went through that and appreciate that you stood up at a time when few women would. I presume that you don't regret the stands that you took. That might be a good column/message that, looking back, stepping forward, was a worthwhile risk in ways that are hard to measure?

True. I do not regret taking a stand. I wish women (and men) didn't have to go through such things. Taking a stand keeps your integrity intact. Be it sexual/verbal, etc. abuse or being willing to be fired because I wouldn't sell something I felt was being touted as something it wasn't. The results let us sleep better at night, and help others. I wouldn't be the best person to write a column on the subject, but if you find someone to interview me and other women who spoke up and who speak up, LMK.

You said much here. Thank you.

Having worked at Fisher Investments for many years, I can attest to the fast that its a sexist place to work. Women are treated like pieces of meat EXCEPT the the few at the top of the firm. The rest are eye candy and are frequently the subject of crass and vulgar objectification.

Seeking 3 courageous financial advising/trading women who dealt with sexually based verbal or physical abuse at work, reported it, and see how important taking the risk of doing so was to their lives now. Writing an article about us. About saying something, and having the encouragement to do so b/c of some benefit in the long term, that you realize now. That now, you also have the advantage of knowing that reporting it, as scary as that might have been, was worth the risk. Direct email me <a href="http://www.coachmaria.com" rel="nofollow">www.coachmaria.com</a> (I get all email). My marketing manager/content writer will do the interview and write the article. You will have final say/approval in what is written.