How the Pros Invest Their Own Money;They Are Being More Conservative Than With Their Clients' Funds
"Sure I'll tell you how I'm investing my own money," said a stock trader who works at a mid-size brokerage firm. "But you can't use my name because I'm investing a lot more conservatively than my clients, and they'll give me grief."</br></br>Once a year, I take a small sampling of how some Wall Street pros are putting their own money to work. Typically, the folks closest to the stock and bond markets invest more cautiously than you might expect.</br></br>Some experts say it is because they can't monitor their own investments as carefully as they do clients' money. But others admit privately that, even when optimistic predictions about the markets are coming out of their firms, they prefer to remain extra careful. This is their own money, after all.</br></br>With stock prices sinking steadily over the past several months and interest rates rising, the pros this year seem to be investing their own dough much more carefully than ever. Like the average small investor, the experts are looking to put the bulk of their assets safely away, while keeping a small amount of "mad money" for stocks or other investments that could hit the jackpot.</br></br>Kim Rupert, a vice president at MMS International who's in charge of keeping an eye on what the Federal Reserve is up to, is investing as if interest rates aren't going much higher.