Investment Banks, Hedge Funds and Private Equity

The world of finance dramatically changed following the global financial meltdown of 2007-09, and this change has continued following Brexit in 2016 and the new administration that took over in the United States during 2017. These significant events have caused governments and financial industry to look again at investment banks, hedge funds, and private equity through a new lens. Market participants have been significantly impacted, and attitudes toward risk, transparency, regulation, and compensation have changed. Investment banks, hedge funds, and private equity firms are at the epicenter of a transformed financial landscape, forging new roles and seeking new ways to create value within a paradigm of lower risk and greater regulation. This book provides an overview of investment banks, hedge funds, and private equity firms and describes the relationships between these organizations: how they both compete with and provide important services to each other, and the significant impact they have on corporations, governments, institutional investors, and individuals. Together, they have reshaped global financing and investing patterns, attracting envy and awe, but also criticism and concern. They dominate the headlines of the financial press and create wealth for many of their managers and investing clients. This book enables readers to better understand these heavily interconnected organizations, their impact on the global financial market, historical development, principal activities, regulatory environment, and risks and opportunities. Ultimately, the objective of this book is to demystify investment banks, hedge funds, and private equity firms, revealing their key functions, compensation systems, unique role in wealth creation and risk management and their epic battle for investor funds, and corporate influence. After reading this book, the reader should better understand financial press headlines that herald massive corporate takeovers, corporate shareholder activism, large capital market financings and the myriad strategies, risks, and conflicts in the financial market landscape. The inclusion of case studies and spreadsheet models provides an analytical framework that allows the reader to apply the book's lessons to real-world financing, investing, and advisory activities.