Matthias Weik

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Matthias Weik (* 1976 in Stuttgart ) is a German non-fiction author in the field of economics and finance.

Life

Weik studied international business administration at Aalen University and in Australia . In 2006 he was the World Cup representative for Hohenlohe + Schwäbisch Hall Tourismus eV.

With his partner and kindergarten friend Marc Friedrich , he founded Friedrich & Weik Vermögenssicherung UG in 2009 and gives joint lectures on topics such as Industry 4.0 , digitization , cryptocurrency and blockchain . Friedrich and Weik are authors at Telepolis and Cashkurs, a platform founded by Dirk Müller , they are also experts at Focus Online and are listed as speakers for the Handelsblatt .

The two partners have been active in the investment fund business since 2017 . Together they run the "Friedrich & Weik Wertefonds".

Real asset fund

Friedrich and Weik assume that the paper age is coming to an end and the age of real assets would begin. Because you ca n't print real assets like money and real assets have always survived crises, they founded Germany's first open “real asset fund”.

It is important to them that the money is not only invested in one real asset, but in many real assets, such as gold, forest, diamonds or farmland, similar to a mixed fund . This means that you have lower risks, but also lower chances of winning. The fund is not linked to any benchmark index, rather the aim is to protect the capital invested from risks. Government bonds , which would also finance weapons or speculation on food prices, are excluded .

In 2017, they were named “Action Fund of the Month” twice in a row by the Hamburg Stock Exchange. In January 2020, however, the consumer magazine Finanztest came to the conclusion that the fund was “insufficient” in relation to the authors' measured standards. The fund was launched in early 2017 and had achieved a return of 4.4 percent by early 2020. Over the same period, global stock markets rose about 38 percent and the price of gold rose about 29 percent. The fund is also "relatively expensive".

Positions

economy

According to Friedrich and Weik, the financial system only has a mathematically limited lifespan and has been "in intensive care since 2008". The politicians would not dare to oppose the monetary and financial system and it would be artificially kept alive. This would be indebted by more and more money that the ECB pumps into the system and the crash would thus be postponed into the future. Compared to the global economic crisis , the current situation is even more fragile and uncertain. So today there would be a lot more debt and the money would be unregulated in the system.

In their first four books they also suggested solutions. Among other things, they suggested that investment banks should be separated from ordinary commercial banks so that savings deposits are not at risk. Likewise, whether direct democracy essential to contain to populist parties, a haircut and an ECB policy people "used". But now it is too late and the crash will come by 2023 at the latest.

Before the crash occurs, there would be deflation , and that in turn would encourage the national banks to cut interest rates further. According to her, this will be followed by hyperinflation and finally a currency reform . Friedrich and Weik also advocate that artificial intelligence should help govern, as this could save tax wastage and diets . To prepare for the crash, they recommend that the population invest their money in real assets, which the central banks would do by buying lots of gold.

politics

Friedrich and Weik describe themselves as democrats and Europeans and think that the single market is a great achievement, but that the euro divides Europe. They feel that they are not represented by any party, even if they warn against right-wing parties , they are also of the opinion that the "old parties" are failing and that there is a shortage of skilled workers .

reception

Classification and criticism

Weik is classified by various business journalists as a "crash prophet". According to Werner Grundlehner from the NZZ, there are five typical characteristics for such crash prophets, including Weik: “Your arguments are simple and at first glance logical; their prophecies are part of their business model; in professional circles nobody takes them seriously; they are media stars; their solutions are seemingly simple. "Grundlehner compares this to a strategy in roulette:" I bet on the green zero every time and mostly lose. But when the ball stops at zero, I throw a huge hello and tell everyone about the thirty-fivefold increase in the stake. Many visitors to the casino will remember me as a successful player. ”According to Harald Freiberger from the Süddeutsche Zeitung, the tone of such crash prophets, including Weik, would be“ illiberal ”, and there would also be“ a proximity to right-wing populism and conspiracy theories , sometimes to nationalism ”. The journalist Andreas Pflüger writes in the Stuttgarter Zeitung that Friedrich and Weik are specialists, who back up their claims with data, numbers and facts. Likewise, large parts of their forecasts have already come true, such as "the zero interest rate policy of the European Central Bank, penalty interest on savings accounts, the guaranteed interest rate cut for life insurance, Brexit, Donald Trump's election as US President, the self-dismantling of the popular parties or the rise of extreme political forces."

Fact checks

In a fact check in the news magazine Focus, Markus Neumann came to the conclusion that the predictions of the “crash prophets” Weik and Friedrich “do not stand up to closer examination”. In 2020 he examined the first book by the two authors from 2012. There they claimed, for example, that a crash should take place within 2 years. This was not the case 7 years later. They testified that the national debt would continue to rise. According to the International Monetary Fund, however, these fell. They also predicted significantly higher inflation rates in the euro zone; in fact, the inflation rate fell. They advised against buying index funds and called them "madness". In fact, investors with MSCI World index funds were able to achieve a return of 170 percent in this time. By contrast, those who invested their money in gold, as recommended by the authors, lost 11.5 percent of their capital.

Publications

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Marc Friedrich - 1 book - Perlentaucher. Retrieved March 29, 2020 .
  2. ^ Matthias Weik and Marc Friedrich. Retrieved March 29, 2020 .
  3. Dirk Müller: Matthias Weik and Marc Friedrich. Retrieved March 29, 2020 .
  4. FOCUS Online: Experts - Finances. Retrieved March 29, 2020 .
  5. ^ Friedrich and Weik - Handelsblatt speaker agency. Retrieved March 29, 2020 .
  6. Is the value fund worth the money? ARD , January 17, 2020, accessed on January 17, 2020 .
  7. First real asset fund in Sachwertmagazin
  8. Investment strategy of this fund in finanzen100.de
  9. Action Fund of the Month in wallstreet: online
  10. Funds from financial crash gurus deliver lousy returns. Spiegel (Magazin) , January 17, 2020, accessed January 17, 2020 .
  11. Wertefonds is not only weak in terms of returns. Stiftung Warentest , January 17, 2020, accessed on January 17, 2020 .
  12. ↑ The global economy is racing unchecked towards the abyss focus.de
  13. ^ Badische Zeitung: Marc Friedrich: A crash should come - Economy - Badische Zeitung. Retrieved March 29, 2020 .
  14. Waiting for the "greatest crash of all time". In: TTT. ARD, December 8, 2019, accessed on March 29, 2020 .
  15. Editor: Marc Friedrich on mega-crash and gold, silver, platinum, whiskey, bitcoin. In: finanzmarktwelt.de. October 18, 2019, accessed on March 29, 2020 (German).
  16. Bestselling authors Matthias Weik and Marc Friedrich :. Retrieved March 29, 2020 .
  17. Economist and author Marc Friedrich: "The crash is also the greatest opportunity" - Economy - Pforzheimer-Zeitung. Retrieved March 29, 2020 .
  18. The scam of the crash prophets in faz.net
  19. The fear business in nzz.ch
  20. ^ Crash prophets in the crash test in sueddeutsche.de
  21. Andreas Pflüger: Friedrich and Weik would have liked to be wrong in Stuttgarter-Zeitung.de November 11, 2019, accessed January 11, 2020
  22. Markus Neumann: Crash prophets Weik and Friedrich: Your theses in check. In: Focus Online . January 10, 2020, accessed January 11, 2020 .