Wendelin Wiedeking is the CEO of Porsche who until recently was distinguishable solely by his Boogie Nights-era moustache. Nowadays he is distinguishable by his decidedly un-Rhineland style pay packet at around US$95m.

In a country where Anglo Saxon style capitalism and American executive pay packets are frowned upon, the size of this package would be enough to cause consternation by itself. The real story however is the profit of Porsche.

Despite 23 year old hedge fund managers queuing up from Greenwich, Connecticut to Singapore to buy the latest 911, selling cars is not why Porsche is doing so well. It’s all about currency trading and options. A couple of weeks ago, Porsche announced a record full year pre-tax profit of €5.86b of which a staggering €3.6b came via options trading.

Why manufacture cars when a whole lot of Maths science grads poring over algorithms on computer screens can make you and your company a lot more money? Some might say who cares?

However in an era of sub-prime meltdowns where even savvy investors are getting burnt through owning credit derivative products based upon the market value of West Virginian trailer sites, investors should care.

Australian management has not fallen into the trap of trading their way to super normal profits like Porsche, but then Australian management historically tends to be better at losing money in this area than making money. Ask a former Pasminco shareholder what they think about currency hedging.

If you do start hearing about the new innovative ways in which the Treasury function is generating income at the next Australian company AGM you attend, be afraid, be very afraid. Selling widgets or milk is one thing, playing with the whiz kids at Goldman Sachs or MacBank on their home turf is only going to end in tears and a significant loss of shareholder wealth.