Like Don Cherry and Ezra Levant, Kevin O’Leary likes to talk loud, puff out his chest and insult others. Problem with these bozos is that kind of behaviour requires the goods to back up the braggadocio. We know the answer in the case of both Cherry and Levant. According to Time magazine from 2009, O’Leary’s no better, losing at badly at what he trumpets is his oeuvre.
That take-no-prisoners toughness is certainly entertaining, but behind the ego and bluster, O’Leary’s real-life business performance is spotty. All four of the funds run by O’Leary’s asset-management company are trailing the market this year. Shares of the company’s oldest fund, O’Leary Global Equity Income Fund, which was launched in 2008, have plunged nearly 24% in the past year. Next, there’s the truth-in-advertising problem: O’Leary calls himself an “eco-preneur,” but many of the funds’ investments are in coal companies and other large polluters. An O’Leary Funds representative declined to comment on the performance of the funds.
