Bill Gross has cautioned that the "cult of equity is dying." Now another heavy hitter in the markets, Nassim Taleb, is advising prospective investment managers to avoid the industry altogether.

Taleb, author of the 2007 book "The Black Swan" and a lecturer at New York University, has published a new paper titled "Why It is No Longer a Good Idea to Be in the Investment Industry." Pure and simple: Professional investors have to be lucky to be successful, he says. Those who have gained some success within the industry will continue...