Chapter 639: Establishing Friendship

If Manhattan in New York gives people the impression of being prosperous and busy, then the mansions of different styles quietly hidden in the shade of trees in Long Island form a paradise for the super-rich to live in seclusion.

On the highway in the early morning, a convoy slowly drove by, driving very smoothly.

Even without BGM, this scene easily reminds people of the scenes of the super-rich traveling in the TV series "Succession Battle", which received multiple nominations and won many heavyweight awards at the Emmy Awards in September this year.

After all, the extended version of the Cadillac sedan "protected" by the Chevrolet SUV in front and behind, no matter how you look at it, it has a bit of "old money" style.

However, at the gate of a manor, the convoy was stopped by several "fully armed" security personnel. After asking the other party's identity and checking each car, the leading security personnel picked up the walkie-talkie and let it go.

This was not the beginning. After that, the convoy was stopped again after passing the road outside the manor. This time, the situation was slightly better. Several black-clad bodyguards drove behind the convoy after routine inquiries and drove to the main house of the manor.

At this time, many vehicles were parked in the small square at the entrance of the residence, almost all of which were SUVs of bodyguards and luxury cars...

"Sorry, Your Highness, I was delayed by something. I hope I didn't keep you waiting too long..."

Seeing the handsome young man walking out of the door of the main house, the middle-aged man with gold-rimmed glasses and a slightly receding hairline who had just got off the car and adjusted his suit said apologetically.

"No, Mr. Fink, we were just chatting."

This was the first time the two met. Needless to say, Barron, the British Duke who managed huge wealth, had already begun to spread his reputation on Wall Street earlier, especially after the outbreak of the subprime mortgage crisis. His many large-scale investments and acquisitions have made him the most watched person in financial capital.

The "Mr. Fink" mentioned by Barron is Larry Fink, the founder of BlackRock Group. Although BlackRock Group is also very well-known on Wall Street, Barron has never dealt with them directly before. However, he also knows that after this crisis, BlackRock Group will rely on its extraordinary ability and courage to start to rapidly expand the scale of assets it manages.

From the cars parked at the door, it can be seen that the guests who came to Barron's manor today are not only Larry Fink, but also the bosses of many companies including Vanguard Group, State Street Group and other asset management groups. They are either the founders or the current managers of the group.

Well, John Bogle, the founder of Vanguard Group, also came here. This is not the first time he has met Barron. The two can be regarded as "old acquaintances"...

These bigwigs who can influence the American economy and even the world economic situation gathered together. In addition to talking about the subprime mortgage crisis, they also came to establish a deeper "friendship".

Bogle had proposed to Barron about establishing a "friendship" earlier, but at that time, DS Group was only a younger brother to Vanguard Group, not to mention BlackRock, which was relatively "weak" at the time. DS Group was just a younger brother, and a younger brother at that...

But now it is completely different. After only two years of development, the assets managed by DS Group have expanded several times. Although it is still far less than Vanguard Group at this time, it can be regarded as being able to speak to it on a relatively equal footing.

More importantly, during this period of time, Barron has completed the adjustment of DS Group.

The shares of companies including SEM Group, O2 Telecom, United Energy Group, Woaw Technology and Argos Retail Group, which were originally controlled by DS Holdings of DS Group, have been owned by Cavendish Trust Fund, and DS Holdings is just equivalent to helping the trust fund to manage assets.

In other words, the DS Group has completely transformed into an "asset management group" like Vanguard and BlackRock. In addition to various investment funds, the group also has equity management companies. Its main profits also come from investment sharing, and it no longer directly controls its own assets.

However, due to the scale of assets managed by the DS Group and its profitability, its income is actually not weaker than that of the Vanguard Group and the BlackRock Group at this time.

After all, the scale of funds managed is one aspect, and profitability is another.

The reason why the Vanguard Group now manages hundreds of billions of funds is largely because their "fees" are lower, so they are competitive. In fact, their profitability is not higher than that of the DS Group.

The same is true for the BlackRock Group. Before this, the scale of the BlackRock Group was not so exaggerated, and similarly, its profitability was not as good as that of the Vanguard Group...

So under such circumstances, especially after Barron made a series of adjustments to the DS Group, all parties, mainly the Vanguard Group, BlackRock Group and other companies and the DS Group, have a basis for further increasing "friendship".

To be more realistic, Barron also understands that as he invests more and more deeply in the United States and the scale becomes larger and larger, he cannot avoid the establishment of "friendship" with these Jewish and Angsa capitals anyway...

Of course, in order to welcome the addition of DS Group, and although the scale of funds under management is larger than that of the other three companies - except for BlackRock at this time, Vanguard Group and State Street Group - The Linghang Group also made certain concessions.

DS Group will take a total of 15% of the shares and conduct cross-shareholdings with Vanguard Group, BlackRock Group and State Street Group.

After these three companies each hold 5% of the shares of DS Group, DS Group will also own 4.5%-5% of the shares of the other three groups, and so on.

"Welcome to join us, Your Highness the Duke, this will be the foundation for our continued strength..."

Bogle raised his glass and said with a smile.

"This is indeed cause for celebration, gentlemen..."

Barron also had a faint smile on his face:

"As for Costco, I think today we just need to celebrate, I don't want to think too much about it right now."

He walked up to Larry Fink and said:

"By the way, Mr. Fink, congratulations on your great job in clearing those bonds. This is not an easy job..."

"Yes, Your Highness the Duke, that is indeed a headache. Fortunately, we did a pretty good job."