A Bull Market For Wonks

Blindsided by populism, investors are trying to understand how politics will affect their portfolios

- Craig Torres

Better Markets, a left-leaning Washington think tank, describes itself as a watchdog over Wall Street. Nowadays, many of the people seeking its advice are Wall Streeters themselves.

There’s been a “very big uptick” in fund managers reaching out to talk, says Dennis Kelleher, co-founder and chief executive officer of the group, which advocates for financial-services reforms. He says his unanticipated visitors tend to have one thing in common. They’re alarmed—very belatedly, in Kelleher’s view—by the populist turn in U.S. politics, and they’re struggling to figure out where things are headed next. Talking to groups with alternative views is one way to get a sense of that. “You have this ongoing economic insecurity that is eroding confidence in Wall Street and the American economy,” he says.

For decades, there was broad agreement in Washington that prosperity is built on unfettered global commerce, restrained federal budgets, and central bank independence. Those certainties were shaken by the financial crisis—and they’ve been largely abandoned under President Trump, who appears to disagree with them all. At the same time, more Democrats are embracing policies, such as universal, single-payer health care and wealth taxes, that were once regarded as radical.