During the financial crisis of 2008–2009, I worked as a co-portfolio manager, overseeing thirty billion dollars' worth of assets belonging to asset allocation funds. My experience as a professional investor taught me that I had a responsibility to my customers to do a better job of preventing the loss of their assets, and this was one of the most important lessons I took away from my career. It was unacceptable for a custodian to suffer a loss of 15–45 percent while the market as a whole suffered a loss of 60–75 percent.