How exactly have the contours of the world's financial system changed in recent years, and where does most activity now occur? That is a question that many observers have been tempted to ask themselves.

After all, during this decade, investors have been presented with numerous signs that structural shifts are underway in the pattern of finance: buy-out firms have taken public companies private, hedge fund assets have swelled inexorably, sovereign wealth funds have boomed and activity in the complex debt sector has exploded at a startling pace - producing some particularly unfortunate consequences in credit markets this summer.