The future face of financing

Large hedge funds are increasingly acting as financiers to cash-strapped companies, flexing their financial muscle as aggressive activist shareholders and participating in private equity deals. Risk gets some different perspectives on funds' move into financing. By Navroz Patel

What's the alternative investment de rigueur for alternative investors? For an increasing number of hedge funds, the answer is surprisingly traditional. As banks have shied away from making smaller loans to credit-risky companies, hedge funds and private equity firms are stepping into the breach. Alongside smaller specialised boutiques, the behemoths of the investment world are keen to enter into the lending market.

A prime example is the Carlyle Group, one of the world's largest