Dan Schwartz has done a masterful job of synthesizing the thoughts of some of the best minds in the private equity business along with his own to create a superb discussion of the industry, past, present, and most importantly where it is going. This is a must-read for anyone in the private equity world and for those considering the field.
Leonard Harlan
Chairman, Executive Committee, Castle Harlan
Dan Schwartz was a first-hand witness to the birth of private equity in Asia and has chronicled its explosive growth over the past two decades. In The Future of Finance he uses an insider’s perspective to full effect, pulling together the views of many practitioners to illuminate both the roots of the 2008 global crisis and private equity’s potential role in rebuilding our financial system. Schwartz’ fast-paced, conversational style makes for a welcome contrast to dry economic analysis—well worth reading for both business leaders and students of finance.
Dan Carroll
Managing Partner, TPG
Dan Schwartz’s The Future of Finance offers an insightful and compelling window into the world of private equity and venture capital. Schwartz has leveraged his more than 20 years of industry experience to produce a well researched and nuanced work that will prove invaluable to anyone interested in these fields.
Joe Bae
Managing Partner, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. Asia
For anyone concerned about the future economic impact of global innovation, job creation, and finance, Dan Schwartz’s comprehensive new treatise is a must-read. Replete with in-depth perspectives of dozens of the most senior global venture capital and private equity leaders and numerous case study examples, this gem artfully explains the dramatic changes happening in these vital industries and how government leaders, policy makers, entrepreneurs and investors must adapt for continuing success in the second decade of the 21st century.
Dixon R. Doll
Cofounder and General Partner, DCM
Chairman, U.S. National Venture Capital Assoc. (2008-09)
From cottage industry to multi-billion asset class, Asian private equity has transformed the region’s financial and corporate landscape in two short decades. Dan Schwartz was present at the beginning of this fascinating era as iconic spokesman and entrepreneurial founder of AVCJ. His contribution as chief convener to the industry helped shape an asset class. The Future of Finance is forward-looking while drawing upon the rich past of an industry’s development amid volatile cycles, financial crises, pandemics, capital excess, capital drought and Darwinian struggles. Many of the prime movers, who paved the way to the future, have shared privileged views with Dan over the years and now on these insightful pages.
Philip Bilden
Managing Director, HarbourVest Partners (Asia)
Dan Schwartz’s extensive and experienced network has enabled him to tap the key issues and insights of today’s leading private equity and venture capital practitioners around the world. This enlivens Dan’s stroll through Europe, North America and Asia as he examines the development of these private capital markets…and these insights shape the prism through which he views a future for private equity in the coming decades.
Bill Ferris
Executive Chairman, Champ Private Equity
Dan Schwartz is the person best placed to write about the history of the private equity industry in Asia—he was there right from the beginning. In nearly two decades, he has been a keen observer of the industry’s developments and market trends. He was the cheerleader when the industry was down and he has been a friend to most of the leading practitioners, a position that provides him with unique insights into the actual workings of the industry as described in the book. The “New Corporate Theory” introduced in the last section of the book is an interesting thesis. If it comes to fruition, it will transform the shareholder-driven corporate governance model as we know it today.
Tang Kok Yew
Chairman and Managing Partner, Affinity Equity Partners (HK)
Reviews
“It is Private Equity 101 for anyone who wants to understand the nuts and bolts, its players, jargons, and the issues plaguing the industry in a post-Lehman world.”
– Knowledge@SMU (Singapore)
“Synthesising the thoughts of the best minds in the private-equity business along with his own, Schwartz creates a masterful discussion of the industry, past, present, and the way forward.”
– The Nation (Thailand)
“The author offers insights into future opportunities and the new economic paradigm ahead of us, not with the intention to lionise but to explain and to look critically at the industry’s present and future.”
– The Star (Malaysia)
“The Future of Finance - How Private Equity and Venture Capital Will Shape the Global Economy offers an insightful and compelling window into the world of private equity and venture capital.”
– Malaysian Business magazine
Press Release
February 19, 2010
Private Equity and Venture Capital to Forge the Way in New Economy
Private equity and venture capital have emerged as the leaders in the new financial order, and could well serve as a weathervane for the global economy. The corporate model they espouse may also herald a fundamental change in the way companies are run.
The Future of Finance: How Private Equity and Venture Capital Will Shape the Global Economy (ISBN: 978-0-470-82511-2; John Wiley & Sons (Asia) Pte Ltd) by Dan Schwartz examines the state of the industry today, the challenges it faces, and offers penetrating insights into what its own future and the financial world may hold. Schwartz has been central to providing thought leadership in the Asian private equity markets and a leading commentator worldwide for over two decades as the iconic spokesman and entrepreneurial builder of the Asian Venture Capital Journal (AVCJ) from the onset of private equity in Asia.
This book uses an insider’s perspective full effect – Reflecting over 90 interviews with leading practitioners from around the world, this story is virtually narrated by the industry itself. It throws light on the roots of the 2008 global crisis and private equity’s potential role in rebuilding our financial system. The book also includes a primer for those unfamiliar with private equity and venture capital; a discussion of the substantive issues the industry faces; and a list of its many investment opportunities going forward. The book is uniquely global in scope, covering markets in Asia, the United States, Europe, and the Middle East. Synthesizing the thoughts of the best minds in the private equity business along with his own, Schwartz creates a masterful discussion of the industry, past, present, and the way forward.
If tomorrow will be different than today, then the way business has been done should be re-examined. The Future of Finance will be a key reading for all business leaders and students of finance.
