Book description
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)
Dan began his career in the financial world in
Houston and New York. In 1993, his firm acquired the Asian Venture
Capital Journal in Hong Kong. Over the next 15 years, the
AVCJ team built one of the world's top sources of ideas and
information in private equity and venture capital.
Dan was born
in Chicago and attended Oak Park and River Forest High School. He
studied at Princeton University and graduated from the Woodrow Wilson
School's undergraduate program in 1972. During his junior year, he
received his Certificat from the Institut d'Etudes
Politiques in Paris. He served with the U. S. Army Europe before
earning a JD from Boston University and an MBA from Columbia. Dan
resides in Hong Kong and San Francisco.
