Jolly Contrarian

There is a Jolly Contrarian in all of us. You, me, him, her — each of us has our inner daemon, a creative destroyer, ein glücklich widersprüchlichmensch who takes over in weaker moments, when our resolve cracks and the absurdity of our professional existence reveals itself. “Und wenn du lange in einen Abgrund blickst, blickt der Abgrund auch in dich hinein”

Jolly Contrarianism & Devilish Advocacy →Go uptown But seriously read this bit If you wanted to help Now the Jolly Contrarian doesn’t advertise, and he doesn’t earn anything from this site, and that’s just fine – it’s a labour of love (and resignation) of which you are welcome to make what you will. But if you have found something you like, and you were minded to say thanks, do it this way: donate to Georgia’s Fund. Or you could snag yourself a copy of Hunter Barkley’s e-book The Montenegro Sanction. That way you get yourself a free book with a stupid but fast-paced story and you donate to Georgia’s Fund at the same time. Bonus. Georgia’s Fund Georgia was a brave, talented, beautiful little girl. She had a lovely smile which she wore through a whole lot of hardship. She was a great little cricketer, and she was mad about animals. Especially wolves. In October 2016 Georgia was taken away from her mum, dad and big brother, and they – and all of us in the family’s wider community – miss her terribly. Georgia’s mum and dad have set up a fund in Georgia’s memory, which, as of what would have been Georgia’s 17th birthday in 2021, had raised around £200,000 to support research into better treatments for Neuroblastoma (through Children with Cancer UK and Neuroblastoma UK. A small portion will go to looking after wolves. Cricket can look after itself. The good news is that the fund is now formally registered as a charitable fund (UK charity no. 1099682), so is eligible for gift aid and all that jazz. You can now donate easily by clicking right here. Index: Click ᐅ to expand: The Jolly Contrarian Tell me more Sign up for our newsletter — or just get in touch: for ½ a weekly 🍺 you get to consult JC. Ask about it here.

If only we would let it out more often.

Then there is the Jolly Contrarian. He is a charlatan, simpleton, knave and prone to bouts of inappropriate levity. When not speaking half-truths to the disempowered he writes this wiki. He has a long-suffering spouse who may or may not be Prussian nobility. Not, most likely. But you wouldn’t know that by how she carries on.

Who is the JC?

The mild-mannered penry, in his day-job as acting deputy associate general assistant at Wickliffe Hampton Securites Inc.

Well, after ten years running this site my spouse told me I should at least own up to who I am, but bugger that. It’s no real secret and anyone with a basic yen for online surveillance will be able to work it out, but you may know me as mild-mannered Penry. Until recently I was second in charge of checking that the firm’s name was spelled correctly on the football team at Wickliffe Hampton Securities Inc., London Branch, but I eventually summoned the guts to leave that behind and now I’m in a legal department of one. It’s fun.

But what I do have is 30 years’ experience as a commercial lawyer, in New Zealand (for a bit) and in the UK (for the rest). I’ve worked at law firms big and small, and three kinds of investment bank: American, British and Swiss, and now I work at a scrappy little start up. As you may deduce I have specialised, over the years, in structured products, repackagings, credit, fund derivatives, fund solutions, commodities, ISDA negotiations, cash equities, equity derivatives, synthetic equity derivatives, prime brokerage, securities financing, and emissions derivatives. Some of what I’ve found out makes up the useful bits of this site.

I like to ski and play guitar, but not at the same time. Also, cricket.

The Jolly Contrarian started out life in 2012, as “AmwellClear”, as a fun way way of remembering the difference between Loss, Market Quotations, Close Out Amounts and Unpaid Amounts and just kept growing.

SEO folk: before you write to offer tips on how to differentiate the JC from its competition, remember: when you write satire about derivatives THERE IS NO GODDAMN COMPETITION.