Hedge Funds, Private Equity Funds, and Investment Banks

Hedge Funds:

• Hedge funds are actively managed alternative investments that typically use non-traditional and risky investment strategies or asset classes
• Hedge funds charge much higher fees than conventional investment funds and require high minimum deposits
• These funds may be managed aggressively or make use of derivatives and leverage to generate higher returns
• Hedge fund strategies include long-short equity, market neutral, volatility arbitrage, and merger arbitrage
• They are generally only accessible to accredited investors

Pros:

• Profits in rising and falling markets
• Balanced portfolios reduce risk and volatility
• Several investment styles to choose from
• Managed by the top investment managers

Cons:

• Losses can be potentially large
• Less liquidity than standard mutual funds
• Locks up funds for extended periods
• Use of leverage can increase losses

Private Equity Funds:

• Private equity is an alternative form of private financing, away from public markets, in which funds and investors directly invest in companies or engage in buyouts of such companies
• Private equity firms make money by charging management and performance fees from investors in a fund
• Among the advantages of private equity are easy access to alternate forms of capital for entrepreneurs and company founders and fewer stress of quarterly performance. Those advantages are offset by the fact that private equity valuations are not set by market forces
• Private equity can take on various forms, from complex leveraged buyouts to venture capital

Pros:

• Allows companies access to liquidity as an alternative to conventional financial mechanisms such as high interest bank loans or listing on public markets
• Certain forms of private equity such as venture capital, also finance ideas and early stage companies
• In the case of companies that are de-listed, private equity financing can help such companies attempt growth strategies away from the glare of public markets

Cons:

• It can be difficult to liquidate holdings in private equity because, unlike public markets, a ready-made order book that matches buyers with sellers is not available. A firm has to undertake a search for a buyer to make a sale of its investment or company
• Pricing of shares for a company in private equity is determined through negotiations between buyers and sellers and not by market forces, as is generally the case for publicly-listed companies
• The rights of private equity shareholders are generally decided on a case-by-case basis through negotiations instead of a broad governance framework that typically dictates rights for their counterparts in private markets

Investment Banks:

• Investment banks specialize in managing complex financial transactions such as IPOs and mergers for corporate clients
• Modern investment banking is typically a division of a bigger bank institution such as Citibank and JPMorgan Chase
• Investment bank operations can be roughly divided into three main functions: Financial Advisors, Mergers and Acquisitions and Research

Financial Advisors:

As a financial advisor to large institutional investors, an investment bank may provide strategic advice on a variety of financial matters.

They accomplish this mission by combining a thorough understanding of their clients' objectives, industry, and global markets with the strategic vision necessary to spot and evaluate short- and long-term opportunities and challenges.

M&A:

Facilitating mergers and acquisitions is a key element of an investment bank's work.

The investment bank estimates the value of a potential acquisition and helps negotiate a fair price for it. It also assists in structuring and facilitating the acquisition to make the deal go as smoothly as possible.

Research:

Research maintains an investment bank's institutional knowledge on credit research, fixed income research, macroeconomic research, and quantitative analysis, all of which are used internally and externally to advise clients.

This research assists its traders and sales department and also provides investment advice to outside clients who can complete a trade through the bank’s trading desk.