It's not hard to imagine. There's Larry Fink,
Starbucks coffee in hand, heading down Park Avenue. And there's Stephen
Schwarzman, his old boss, heading up.
It's
not hard because Fink and Schwarzman - two of the most successful
financial whizzes of our time - have been on a collision course for
years. They work, literally and figuratively, on the opposite sides of
the same street, personifying a contest that's remaking money
management.
On one side is Fink, power player in low-cost passive investments. On the other is Schwarzman, old-school dealmaker and champion of high-touch, high-fee alternative investments like private equity.
The broad outlines of their twin careers are by now well-known. First came the years together at Schwarzman's Blackstone Group LP, where the young Fink added a bond shop to the striving buyout operation. Then, the inevitable split. Fink got what was then the underdog: BlackRock Inc.
It's no underdog now. Lately, the investment world has been tilting BlackRock's way. Today the firm sits atop $US6.3 trillion ($8.1 trillion) in assets, making it the world's largest money manager and one that dominates the market in passive-investments.
That Fink has managed to pass the billion-dollar mark is, in fact, a testament to BlackRock's success. Since its 1999 listing, its share price has returned more than 3,600 per cent. Blackstone's shares have barely budged since its 2007 initial public offering.
On one side is Fink, power player in low-cost passive investments. On the other is Schwarzman, old-school dealmaker and champion of high-touch, high-fee alternative investments like private equity.
The broad outlines of their twin careers are by now well-known. First came the years together at Schwarzman's Blackstone Group LP, where the young Fink added a bond shop to the striving buyout operation. Then, the inevitable split. Fink got what was then the underdog: BlackRock Inc.
It's no underdog now. Lately, the investment world has been tilting BlackRock's way. Today the firm sits atop $US6.3 trillion ($8.1 trillion) in assets, making it the world's largest money manager and one that dominates the market in passive-investments.
That Fink has managed to pass the billion-dollar mark is, in fact, a testament to BlackRock's success. Since its 1999 listing, its share price has returned more than 3,600 per cent. Blackstone's shares have barely budged since its 2007 initial public offering.
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