Talk:Bespoke portfolio (CDO)

This article was nominated for deletion on 15 July 2014 (UTC). The result of the discussion was no consensus.

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From LargoPlazo:

It is proposed that this article be deleted because of the following concern: "Bespoke portfolio" has nothing particularly to do with synthetic CDOs, it's any portfolio that is bespoke, that is, custom-tailored for the client. In any event, this is a dictionary definition without encyclopedic content. If you can address this concern by improving, copyediting, sourcing, renaming or merging the page, please edit this page and do so. You may remove this message if you improve the article or otherwise object to deletion for any reason. Although not required, you are encouraged to explain why you object to the deletion, either in your edit summary or on the talk page. If this template is removed, do not replace it.

Response:

This is respectfully not correct. Bespoke portfolio is a term specifically associated with Synthetic CDOs, and CDOs are presently poorly described on Wikipedia, in my view . I recognize that the page is very brief today, please give me a chance to expand it in the coming weeks.

Considering the number of firms offering "bespoke portfolios" with no mention of synthetic CDOs, your assertion appears incorrect! I acknowledge that my haste to call for deletion, rather than waiting for more content, was based on the impression (which I still have) that what is already there is incorrect. Otherwise I would have made a note to check back to see if it had been filled in further. —Largo Plazo (talk) 23:21, 15 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

By the way, your ping to me on your talk page somehow failed to notify me, and noticed it only because I checked out your contributions list to see if you were fairly new (which you aren't). If I had seen your note before I'd submitted the page for a deletion discussion, I would have held off on that till you and I had finished conversing here. Sorry about that. —Largo Plazo (talk) 23:24, 15 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I ran a Google search "bespoke portfolio" "synthetic cdo" to find pages with both terms. The pages that relate the two invariably suppose the CDO to be tied to a pre-existing bespoke portfolio.[1][2][3][4] This isn't to say that being tied to a particular CDO isn't what a particular portfolio was bespoke for, but "bespoke" just means that the portfolio was created for a particular purpose, not necessarily that purpose. —Largo Plazo (talk) 23:55, 15 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

@Largoplazo: A number of quick points: sorry for being picky but I've edited your edits as certain words here have necessary meaning. I changed "set" to "table" because "set" obviously has a mathematical meaning. "Schedule" would actually be more precise, but might confuse people rather than enlightening them. Please see http://www.ise.ie/debt_documents/Magnolia2005-6_1725.pdf, appendix B (that is, after p.153) for an example of what these reference portfolio schedules actually look like. I changed the sentence around further as only the investment bank is deemed an "arranger". The investment manager will not take on the securities law liability of being an arranger. Fiachra10003 (talk) 17:57, 5 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

"Set" does have a meaning within the context of mathematics, but outside of that context it is an ordinary English word that was apt for the use to which I'd put it. One can have a set of dishes, a set of golf clubs, a set of investments. A portfolio is not a "table" or "schedule" of any kind. A bespoke portfolio is not "a table of reference securities". If I buy 1,000 shares of stock A, $20M worth of bond B, and 150 shares of an interest in real estate fund C, then my portfolio is the set of those investments, not a table or schedule of them. If I go to my investment advisor and say, "Here is $10M with which I'd like you to compose a portfolio designed to meet goals X, Y, and Z", then the securities he purchases for me to meet those goals—my bespoke portfolio—are not "reference securities". —Largo Plazo (talk) 18:02, 5 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

@Largoplazo: Also, I just changed investment advisor to investment manager. While both expressions mean the same thing, at least to my ears, the investment advisor article is primarily about the regulatory aspects of managing money as opposed to the act of picking securities. Fiachra10003 (talk) 18:16, 5 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]