Associated Press- Bear Stearns Cos. may find it easier to overcome the acute pain of subprime mortgages than the more chronic ache of its eroding prime brokerage business.<\/p>\n
“Bear Stearns has missed out on the recent growth in the hedge fund industry and is seeing some attrition because they don\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00cb\u0153t have the global breadth, balance sheet or technological savvy of Morgan Stanley or Goldman,” said Adam Sussman, a senior analyst at financial consultant Tabb Group.<\/p>\n
While those powerhouses continue to hold their own, Bear Stearns\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00cb\u0153 position is under assault from rivals with bigger balance sheets and international scale. Citigroup Inc., UBS AG and Deutsche Bank AG, among them, are wooing big hedge funds with strategic solutions and services to meet global trading demands. Bear Stearns says expansion abroad is a new priority, but analysts and competitors say its late start and relatively small size are holding it back.<\/p>\n