“Black-swan funds run by Universa Investments LP and Pacific Investment Management Co., designed to protect against financial cataclysms, paid off this month as stocks took their steepest dive in almost three years,” Bloomberg reports.

A so-called black swan is an investment term used to describe an unforeseen market event that either positively or negatively impacts returns.

“Black-swan clients of PIMCO, manager of the world’s biggest mutual fund, saw gains this month of as much as 5.5 times the premiums they paid, according to Vineer Bhansali, a Pimco portfolio manager,” Bloomberg notes.

Further, Universa, a hedge fund founded and owned by Mark Spitznagel that consults with New York University professor Nassim Taleb, “had a 10-fold return this year through Aug. 8 on the capital in its black-swan accounts.”

Qu’est ce que ça donne en français?
http://www.fooledbyrandomness.com/Aphorismes.pdf

Many people went into July 22 thinking they had a "conservative" or "moderate risk" portfolio.  After 12.5% (or higher) losses, many of those same individuals now realize they had high risk portfolios all along.  The problem is, no one told them that when their portfolios were constructed.

Worse yet, a good number of these individuals were planning on living off of these investments within the next couple years.  Undoubtedly, those plans have now been delayed, perhaps for some time as the economy and markets struggle to find their footing.

Help, friends. How do we translate nerd into French? “pollard” seems archaic, “bachotteur” and “livresque” inadequate. (I am translating the aphorisms of The Bed of Procrustes). Mille mercis.