Bridgewater - the optics here are suspect as hell. It's the world's largest hedgefund. I started looking due to coming across Comey's association with it. They flaunt the cult culture- note here:
http:// archive.is/69jBY
"It was just weeks after he joined Bridgewater — whose corporate culture of high-achieving intellectuals resembles a moneyed management cult that shares more in common with the 1970s personal-improvement fad est than it does with a typical Wall Street firm — that Comey was cornered by a similarly new 25-year-old employee. "
From Wikipedia site for quick overall look. Ties to foundations, central banks and foreign governments. Did I mention Comey as well?
http:// archive.is/EYZcT
"Bridgewater Associates is an American investment management firm founded by Ray Dalio in 1975. The firm serves institutional clients including pension funds, endowments, foundations, foreign governments, and central banks."
While every one else was being crushed by the recession, looks like this organization was flurishing. And setting up a very isolated location.
"Since 2000 its staff has grown from 100 to 1200 employees, and the firm has taken office space in three additional buildings in the area.[7] In an effort to consolidate its offices, the company made plans to build a 750,000 square foot headquarters in Stamford, CT about 15 miles from its present location in Westport, but cancelled the project in 2014.[47]"
None of this is normal including controlling employees commute to an isolated location and indoctrinating employees in meditation.
"The company is reported to be one of the few hedge fund managers that hires its analysts and employees right out of college and from the annual pool of graduates from Ivy League schools.[50] Employees are transported daily in a "fancy" bus that ferries them from Manhattan to the company's Westport offices. According to an article in Bloomberg, "about a quarter of all new hires" leave within the first two years.[10] Those that remain are reported to receive "generous" compensation and form bonds with fellow employees that are "like family"[8] and the company's founder helps to pay for any employees that wish to learn the Transcendental Meditation technique.[51]
Dalio, the founder, relinquished his chief executive officer (CEO) title in July 2011 to take on the role of "mentor." The company's administration consists of three co-CEO's; Greg Jensen, Eileen Murray and David McCormick; the former undersecretary of the Treasury Department.[52] The company also has three co-CIO's (chief investment officers); Dalio, Bob Prince and Jensen (who is also co-CEO).[7] Jensen, the 37-year-old co-CEO, oversees the research programs at the firm and came to the company as a Dartmouth College intern about 15 years earlier.[53][54] Britt Harris, formerly of Verizon Investment Management, joined Bridgewater as co-CEO in November 2004 but left six months later. According to Dalio, the cultural fit was a problem, but Harris "is a superstar, with an absolutely fabulous character".[55] From 2010 until early 2013, Bridgewater's general counsel was James Comey, former United States Deputy Attorney General and former Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.[56]"
Cult just keeps showing up in their description.
"The company has been likened to a cult,[32] but Dalio denies that and insists that the firm is a dedicated "community".[7] An article in the New Yorker by John Cassidy says that "the word cult clearly has connotations that don't apply to an enterprise staffed by highly paid employees who can quit at any moment." Cassidy says the company is located away from other financial institutions and headed by a "strong-willed leader" and that employees use a "unique vocabulary".[32] One client, Bob Jacksha, chief executive officer of the New Mexico Educational Retirement Board, said of the firm: "Every investment manager has its own culture [and] some are more unique than others."[33]"
I think this deserves further look. I won't have a chance for a couple of days.