But in truth, Scholes was the fund’s best salesman. Investors at least had heard of Scholes; a couple had even taken his class. And Scholes was a natural raconteur, temperamental but extroverted. He used a vivid metaphor to pitch the fund. Long-Term, he explained, would be earning a tiny spread on each of thousands of trades, as if it were vacuuming up nickels that others couldn’t see. He would pluck a nickel seemingly from the sky as he spoke; a little showmanship never hurt. Even when it came to the fund’s often arcane details, Scholes could glibly waltz through the math, leaving most of his
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