For hedge funds and their offspring, the days of rugged individualism are numbered.
That’s the thesis of a new study by Don Putnam, the investment-banking luminary who founded Putnam Lovell and spearheaded such storied acquisitions as Pimco by Allianz Group (AG:NYSE – commentary – research – Cramer’s Take) and Zurich Scudder by Deutsche Bank (DB:NYSE – commentary – research – Cramer’s Take). The piece, “Adapt or Die Trying: Darwinism and Intelligent Design in the Hedge Fund Industry,” depicts a future in which rapid consolidation squeezes out smaller money managers and funds of funds, leaving a landscape dominated by huge, multi-strategy advisers.
The ideas are getting a lot of notice, particularly among the ostensible victims, some of whom believe Putnam is a less-than-impartial judge.
