A risk manager exposed

By Prieur du Plessis, on April 9th, 2008 posted in: Humor

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This is an old joke usually told about chartered accountants, but equally applicable to risk managers.

A risk manager, walking down a country lane encounters a shepherd standing near a field of sheep. “If I can accurately predict the number of sheep in this field, would you let me have one?” asks the risk manager.

“Certainly,” replies the shepherd, having just counted them himself. The risk manager gets out his slide rule, calculates the area of pasture needed to sustain one sheep, estimates the area of the field and comes up with the figure 423.

“That’s absolutely correct,” says the shepherd, and the risk manager stoops to claim his prize. “But,” adds the shepherd, “You must give me the chance to get even. If I can accurately guess your profession, we’ll call it quits.” The risk manager agrees.

“You’re a risk manager for a major investment bank,” says the shepherd. “That’s right,” says the bemused manager, “But how did you know?”

The shepherd replies: “Give me back my dog and I’ll tell you.”

Source: Dagenham Dave (via Financial Times)

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