The Battle for Wall Street: Behind the Lines in the Struggle that Pushed an Industry into Turmoil - Hardcover

Goldberg, Richard

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0470222794 ISBN 13: 9780470222799

Publisher: Wiley, 2009

Synopsis

An insider's look at the changing balance of power on Wall Street

The Battle for Wall Street follows the struggle for power between two giants: the sellers, traditional commercial and investments banks; and the buyers, upstart hedge funds, private equity firms and the like. The battle is about winning the hearts, minds, and – yes, the wallets – of global investors. This battle is still running its course, and with the insights of industry veteran Richard Goldberg, who has had a front row seat, readers will gain a detailed understanding as to what, exactly, is going on within this dynamic arena, specifically the forces behind the shift of power from the old sell side gatekeepers to the new buy side players.  The book will play out in three acts: Act One will examine the instruments of change – liquidity and financial technology – along with their influence on the sell and buy sides. Act Two will look at the agents of change – hedge funds, private equity, financial entrepreneurs, endowments, exchanges and sovereign wealth funds – and their impact on the sell and buy sides. In Act Three, Goldberg will take out his crystal ball and walk through the strategic implications for the winners and losers in this battle, against the dramatic backdrop of the subprime mortgage crisis and the resulting shakeup of global firms like Bear Stearns.

But Wall Street isn't simply about institutions or corporate battles. It’s a landscape dominated by personalities. Goldberg's unique access to major players will bring this book to life with amazing anecdotes and stories about the financial generals who have left their mark in The Battle for Wall Street.

About this title

From the Inside Flap

A conflict of epic financial proportions has begun on Wall Street and will continue to rage on in the coming years. The opposing forces are the sellers: an army of commercial and investment bankers; and the buyers: an army of hedge fund managers and private equity groups. It is a battle about power—and about winning the hearts, minds, and wallets of the investment community. In The Battle for Wall Street, twenty-five-year Wall Street veteran Richard Goldberg analyzes the struggle for power between traditional sell-side financial institutions—who have seen their dominance upended during the 2008 financial crisis—and buy-side newcomers, and tells what it means for you and your financial future.

Goldberg explains how, for over 100 years, the sellers held all the power. They made markets, controlled information about markets, and largely managed markets, while buyers were participants with limited power or influence, or none at all. He shows how, with the revolution in information technology, buyers gained access to the same data as the sellers and quickly became an equally powerful force in the marketplace—just as the numerous new pools of liquidity made money more readily available. The author examines the various drivers of large-scale trading technology, the "agents of change" that include private equity, hedge funds, endowments, sovereign wealth funds, and the major exchanges that are fast becoming global financial supermarkets.

With an insider's eye, he looks at the various strategies and initiatives currently under way as a wide range of powerful firms fight to manipulate this new generation of financial technology to their advantage. Throughout the book, he draws on the experiences of many of the sell- and buy-side "generals" in the battle.

With prominent sell-side players either out of business or humbled into restructuring as commercial banks, Goldberg offers dire predictions for some and success for others. And as Goldberg reveals the factors that will create future winners, those who stay ahead of these changes will profit in their careers and their investments. This book will be your guide.

A monumental battle is raging in the ever-shifting, always tumultuous world of Wall Street. The Battle for Wall Street follows the struggle for power between two giants: the sellers, traditional commercial and investment banks; and the buyers, upstart hedge funds, private equity firms, and the like.

Richard Goldberg—who has spent thirty years working with financial industry leaders—gives you a detailed understanding of what is going on in this dynamic arena and the forces behind the shift of power from the old sell-side gatekeepers to the new buy-side players.

The Battle for Wall Street examines the instruments of change—liquidity and financial technology—and the agents of change: hedge funds, private equity, financial entrepreneurs, endowments, exchanges, and sovereign wealth funds. Even more importantly, it outlines the strategic implications for the winners and losers. Goldberg describes all this against the dramatic backdrop of the subprime mortgage and credit crisis and the resulting capitulation of global firms such as Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers.

Goldberg's unique access to major players brings this book to life with fascinating anecdotes and stories about the financial generals who have left their mark in the battle for Wall Street.

About this edition

• Publisher: Wiley
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0470222794
• ISBN 13: 9780470222799
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 240