“Convergence” gets another shot in the arm from recent calamities
Sep 16th, 2008 | Filed under: Institutional Investing, Today's PostNearly two years ago, we wondered if 2007 would be the “year of convergence between hedge funds and mutual funds”. Then last February, we told you about a report that concluded the market turmoil of January 2008 had “sharpened the argument for the convergence of traditional and alternative asset management”.
Well, the more things change, the more they stay the same. Freeman & Co., a boutique M&A advisory firm specializing in the asset management industry, said in a press release last week that “The ongoing credit crisis has hit banks and other financial institutions hard, forcing some to divest asset managers and creating opportunity for aggressive buyers.”
Unlike the mega-hedge-fund-deals of the past, however, the first half of 2008 was marked by more mid-market transactions (up 57% vs. the same period last year). The biggest growth was in the traditional asset management space (+23%) and ”other” financial institutions such as private banks (+85%), not hedge funds.
Here’s what Freeman & Co. had to say about the next year. As you read these predictions, bear in mind that they were issued just days before Lehman showed up at the Pearly gates.
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