Wall Street experiments with marijuana investments

Former Bear Stearns broker sets up legal cannabis industry networking business
Financial Times (UK)
Sunday, April 1, 2018

dollar cannabis2More adventurous corners of Wall Street are experimenting with marijuana as an investment even though recreational use of the drug is illegal in New York and the US attorney-general has reminded the industry that cannabis is outlawed by federal statute. The gathering at Aretsky’s Patroon in midtown Manhattan gave 80 private equity executives, fund managers and family-office investors a chance to hear from pot entrepreneurs seeking capital. One bragged of management team experience that included Blackstone, Goldman Sachs and the Harvard Business School. The North American legal cannabis market grew by a third to nearly $10bn last year, according to ArcView Market Research, and is forecast to more than double in size by 2021.