Finance refers to monetary resources and to the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. As a subject of study, it is related to but distinct from economics, which is the study of the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Based on the scope of financial activities in financial systems, the discipline can be divided into personal, corporate, and public finance.
A hedge fund is a pooled investment fund that holds liquid assets and that makes use of complex trading and risk management techniques to improve investment performance and insulate returns from market risk. Among these portfolio techniques are short selling and the use of leverage and derivative instruments. In the United States, financial regulations require that hedge funds be marketed only to institutional investors and high-net-worth individuals.
Financial services are economic services tied to finance provided by financial institutions. Financial services encompass a broad range of service sector activities, especially as concerns financial management and consumer finance.
D. E. Shaw & Co., L.P. is a multinational investment management firm founded in 1988 by David E. Shaw and based in New York City. The company is known for developing complicated mathematical models and computer programs to exploit anomalies in financial markets. As of December 1, 2023, D. E. Shaw has $60 billion in AUM, including alternative investments and long strategies.
Investcorp is a global manager of alternative investment products, for private and institutional clients. Founded in Bahrain in 1982, the firm has offices in United States, United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, India, China, Japan, and Singapore. Investcorp's principal client base is in the six countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council, but it also has a growing base of institutional clients in North America, Europe, and Asia.
Structured finance is a sector of finance — specifically financial law — that manages leverage and risk. Strategies may involve legal and corporate restructuring, off balance sheet accounting, or the use of financial instruments.
An institutional investor is an entity that pools money to purchase securities, real property, and other investment assets or originate loans. Institutional investors include commercial banks, central banks, credit unions, government-linked companies, insurers, pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, charities, hedge funds, real estate investment trusts, investment advisors, endowments, and mutual funds. Operating companies which invest excess capital in these types of assets may also be included in the term. Activist institutional investors may also influence corporate governance by exercising voting rights in their investments. In 2019, the world's top 500 asset managers collectively managed $104.4 trillion in Assets under Management (AuM).
Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) is a professional designation offered by the CAIA Association to investment professionals who complete a course of study and pass two examinations. The "alternative investments" industry is characterized as dealing with asset classes and investments other than standard equity or fixed income products. Alternative investments can include hedge funds, private equity, real assets, commodities, and structured products.
Marshall Wace LLP is a British hedge fund headquartered in London, England, founded by Paul Marshall and Ian Wace in 1997. Marshall serves as chairman and chief investment officer, and Wace as a chief executive officer & chief risk officer. The company is recognised as one of the world's largest hedge fund managers.
An alternative investment, also known as an alternative asset or alternative investment fund (AIF), is an investment in any asset class excluding capital stocks, bonds, and cash. The term is a relatively loose one and includes tangible assets such as precious metals, collectibles and some financial assets such as real estate, commodities, private equity, distressed securities, hedge funds, exchange funds, carbon credits, venture capital, film production, financial derivatives, cryptocurrencies, non-fungible tokens, and Tax Receivable Agreements. Investments in real estate, forestry and shipping are also often termed "alternative" despite the ancient use of such real assets to enhance and preserve wealth. Alternative investments are to be contrasted with traditional investments.
Schulte Roth & Zabel, LLP is a full service law firm with offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., and London. The number of attorneys practicing at the firm globally is approximately 320 as of 2020, down from approximately 375 attorneys in 2013.
TPG Angelo Gordon is a global alternative investment manager founded in 1988 by John Angelo and Michael Gordon who together ran the arbitrage department of L.F. Rothschild in the 1980s. The firm focuses on four main investment disciplines: credit, real estate, private equity, and multi-strategy.
Sculptor Capital Management is an American global diversified alternative asset management firm. They are one of the largest institutional alternative asset managers in the world.
Ares Management Corporation is a global alternative investment manager operating in the credit, private equity and real estate markets. The company was founded in 1997 with additional offices across North America, Europe, and Asia.
Blackstone Credit, formerly known as GSO Capital Partners (GSO) is an American hedge fund and the credit investment arm of The Blackstone Group. Blackstone Credit is one of the largest credit-oriented alternative asset managers in the world and a major participant in the leveraged finance marketplace. The firm invests across a variety of credit oriented strategies and products including collateralized loan obligation vehicles investing in secured loans, hedge funds focused on special situations investments, mezzanine debt funds and private equity funds focused on rescue financing.
Magnetar Capital is a hedge fund based in Evanston, Illinois. The firm was founded in 2005 and invests in fixed-income, energy, quantitative, and event-driven strategies. The firm was actively involved in the collateralized debt obligation (CDO) market during the 2006–2007 period. In some articles critical of Magnetar Capital, the firm's arbitrage strategy for CDOs is described as the "Magnetar trade".
GCM Grosvenor is an American alternative asset management firm, with approximately $76 billion in assets under management and approximately 530 professionals as of 2023.
Eaton Partners is a global placement agent that assists in raising capital for funds managed by some of the largest private equity firms, hedge funds, real assets and real estate funds in the world. The firm is also one of the oldest placement agents in the private funds industry. Eaton Partners raises capital primarily from institutional investors including private and public pension funds, endowment funds, family offices, fund of funds, foundations and other large pools of money that invest in alternative asset classes.
Axa Investment Managers is a global investment management firm. It operates as the investment arm for Axa, a global insurance and reinsurance company.
Waterfall Asset Management (Waterfall) is an American alternative investment management firm headquartered in New York City. The firm's focuses investments in credit structured products mainly high-yield asset-backed securities (ABS). It also invests in real estate and private equity.
