Here’s one of my favorite stories from my time at a large investment house in Boston.  I doubt that this will do your investing much good, but it’s definitely worth a smile.

This big investment house was founded by a dyed-in-the-wool Yankee whose Boston roots ran deep in the cold soil of Massachusetts.  When the decision was made to begin offering the firm’s services to those outside the coterie of Boston Brahmins, a network of brokers were solicited around the U.S.  to sell its investment products.

The business remained small for many years, but when it began to build momentum in the 1950s and ‘60s, it was decided that the company should invite the top brokers to Boston to meet with the founder and see the operation, sort of an esprit-building junket.

When the group had done the tour and met the founder, they were all invited out to lunch with the Great Man.  But instead of piling into taxicabs, the founder took off walking, with the group in tow, and wound up at a small restaurant in Boston’s Financial District.  Taking the lead, the founder announced that he was having the 99-cent lunch special, and recommended that they do the same.  And finally, while the folks from the marketing department watched with chagrin, he asked that all of these meals be billed on separate checks.

Needless to say, this wasn’t the kind of deluxe treatment the brokers were expecting, but they all fell into line.

Then, when lunch was over, the founder gathered up all of their 99-cent lunch tickets and paid for them himself.  He announced to the group that there was a meal tax on any check over a dollar, and that by getting separate checks, he had saved the 3% tax!

The corporate types were afraid that the founder’s parsimony would offend the brokers, but that wasn’t what happened.  When they returned to their posts in the various states, they kept telling the story and saying, “See, that’s the kind of a man you want to have looking after your investments!”

I don’t know if it would work today, but it showed exactly the kind of character people wanted in their investment professionals in those days.  Come to think of it, maybe we still do.