From black swans to grey rhinos

Grey rhino shock: File picture of the headquarters of the Lehman Brothers investment bank on Sixth Avenue in New York. In the 2007 market crash, the grey rhino shock led to Lehman

EVERY crisis event is best remembered by a concept that explains it in simple terms.

The 2007/9 Global Financial Crisis is well-described as a black swan event, a term coined by contrarian risk manager, Nassim Taleb, as a low probability but high impact event. Most swans are white, but every now and again a black swan appears. Black swans are notoriously difficult to predict, as we don’t see them often, but their impact can be devastating.