By Neil Wilson
Since the onset of the credit crunch last year, it has become increasingly clear that we are entering a period of fundamental change for hedge funds. This is true not only for investors and managers, but also for service providers.
It became dramatically evident in March with the last-ditch rescue by JPMorgan of Bear Stearns - for many years among the top three prime brokers in the United States. At the time, ironically, Absolute Return was getting started on its first research project attempting to measure market share among prime brokers in the United States.
Not surprisingly, our data team was suddenly inundated with messages from funds using Bear Stearns as their prime broker. Some said they were ditching Bear in favor of other firms; others that they were staying with Bear but adding other prime brokers to their roster. Still others said they...