Investors’ eyes are on America’s mighty banks. No wonder. Wall Street groups this week will unveil their second-quarter financial results. And these could offer useful signals about the state of the US economy, and whether Donald Trump’s deregulation and tax cut pledges are still unleashing animal spirits.
But as investors and regulators watch names such as JPMorgan and Citigroup, they should also monitor the nameless world of non-banks as well. For one little secret about finance today is that the banking sector is not the really interesting game in town; instead, the real credit growth — and innovation — is now occurring in the world of private capital.
To understand this, take a look at HPS, a $39bn investment group that used to be part of the Highbridge Group, once owned by JPMorgan Asset Management. The roots of this entity used to be described as a “hedge fund” since it made money by investing in markets.