Wall Street bigwigs!

Uma was pleased to hear what Rex said.

Although most of what she said was nonsense, she was still happy.

Uma shook hands with the group with elegance, and Paul Jones was somewhat captivated by Uma's smooth and youthful face.

No one in this industry is a good person, though they are a bit more subtle than people in Hollywood.

Therefore, everyone was well aware of the purpose of Rix and Uma's arrival.

He wasn't interested in Rex, but he would never refuse Uma; it was just a deal, after all.

Everyone present was a social butterfly, and they quickly seized the opportunity to start chatting with Uma about Hollywood.

He would occasionally mention in his conversation that he was very familiar with so-and-so in Hollywood and that he could introduce Uma to certain directors and producers when the time was right.

They subconsciously add "Paul Jones" when they say these things.

Because Paul Jones is the center of their group.

They know so-and-so, so they also represent Paul Jones' resources.

If Uma wants to make a name for herself in Hollywood, then hooking up with Paul Jones would definitely be a good deal.

Everyone here is a seasoned shrew, while Uma, a naive young girl who has only been an adult for two months, remains ignorant and clueless.

She was very interested in getting to know such well-connected people, and had long since put aside her worries about not wanting to attend the banquet.

Rex, standing beside her, smiled and nodded to Paul Jones before quietly slipping away from the circle.

At the same time, he was certain that Uma's backer had never brought Uma out with him.

Because he deliberately led Uma on a long detour, and no one greeted Uma during that time, perhaps Uma lied to him.

At the same time, Rex breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that the sugar daddy was just playing around with Uma.

Uma was still a vase he could manipulate at will, a resource he could use for exchange.

After they had finished talking, Paul Jones handed Uma a gold card.

Uma thought it was just a business card and put it into the Chanel handbag that Green had bought for her without even looking at it carefully.

Richard, who was not far away, saw all of this clearly, shook his head inwardly, and joined the conversation.

Soon, the banquet officially began.

First, the host took the stage to briefly introduce the banquet organizers and some of the distinguished guests.

Then the real deal appeared: Morgan Stanley CEO John Mike stepped forward.

This is a middle-aged man with a strict style, accurate vision, and ruthless methods.

John Mack smiled as he looked at the crowd below the stage, holding a card with his signature.

"Welcome to all the esteemed investors and my colleagues whom I dislike."

John Mack's remarks drew laughter from the audience.

"This year has been challenging, but also full of opportunities. First, please allow me to briefly introduce the business data of our asset management department..."

In fact, everyone present had already received this data from the staff.

Don't be fooled by John Mack's calm and composed demeanor on stage.

But everyone knows that the returns that various institutions have brought to investors this year have been quite poor.

For Morgan Stanley, the $2.5 million gain was just a nice wallpaper on the surface of its financial statements.

Black Monday's crash wiped out too many gains, and the financial markets were only stabilized by news of bailouts from the Federal Reserve and the White House.

Otherwise, the stock price would collapse even more severely due to panic selling.

Therefore, although top financial institutions, including Morgan Stanley, Morgan Stanley, and Goldman Sachs, recovered some of their gains in the subsequent period of the year.

Overall, the financial reports were not very good, far worse than those of the fund companies that shorted the market around Black Monday.

Small and medium-sized fund companies have flexible strategies and are willing to gamble on an uncertain outcome when it matters.

But they clearly won this gamble. However, many investors still consider large institutions to be more reliable.

John-Mc said all this in order to appease high-end clients.

After introducing these, a new business segment, "Discretionary Accounts," was introduced.

They also proposed establishing a Hong Kong Asia-Pacific headquarters to help Southeast Asian companies list on the US stock market.

John-McK explained, "We offer one-on-one portfolio management for high-net-worth clients."

Those who are interested can turn to the second to last page of the instruction manual for a detailed introduction.

At the same time, we have explored investment agreements with several state pension funds and corporate annuities.

This business is expected to bring Goldman Sachs $50 billion in investment funds...

After John Mike finished his presentation, the investors in the audience applauded enthusiastically, while the elites from other institutions looked rather grim.

Morgan Stanley's move was like an earthquake for the industry.

For example, the $50 billion that Morgan Stanley received from government pension funds and corporate annuities is a game-changer for them.

The number of assets is limited, and investors tend to follow the crowd. If Morgan Stanley takes the lion's share, the remaining pie becomes smaller.

The managers and owners of small and medium-sized institutions looked even worse than if their mothers had died, but there was nothing they could do...

Uma borrowed the documents from someone else and began to read them.

She had been considering whether she should use her meager savings to try and participate in Morgan Stanley's program.

When she saw the numbers on it, her eyes widened in surprise.

The minimum investment required for participating in a discretionary account is $1000 million.

She was almost scared to death.

Paul Jones also looked very grim.

His Duzer Fund has recently outperformed 99.99% of financial institutions.

But I know my own situation best.

Duze Fund Management Co., Ltd. cannot compare with these large institutions.

Paul Jones is here tonight for the banquet.

The purpose is still to promote fund shares to potential clients, so as to further increase the scale of funds under their management next year.

For fund companies, the more capital they have, the greater their safety cushion, preventing a single investment failure from leading to bankruptcy.

But now that Morgan Stanley has started, will the other major institutions follow suit?

The answer is obvious: they will all follow suit; the market cannot be entirely handed over to Morgan Stanley.

It's easy to imagine that next year's market will be a bloodbath.

There's an Eastern proverb that says, "Big fish eat little fish, little fish eat shrimp, and shrimp eat mud."

However, this proverb does not apply in America.

Big fish eat everything except mud, because capital is never satisfied.

Even though Uma was young, she could feel the change in the surrounding air pressure.

At this moment, she moved slightly away from Paul Jones, trying to find someone she knew in the crowd.

Just as Uma was about to leave.

Paul Jones's voice rang in her ear: "Where are you going?"

Uma seemed hesitant to meet Paul Jones's gaze.

She had seen that kind of look many times before; it was a naked, predatory look.

Uma ran her hand through her hair and came up with a lame excuse.

"I'm a little hungry, I'm going to get something to eat."

But Paul Jones grabbed Uma's slender wrist.

"Come with me later, I'll take you back to your room to eat the best food. Now stay by my side like a good girl."

As he released Uma's wrist, a large, hot hand instantly covered Uma's waist.

Uma froze, her whole body trembling slightly, a hint of fear in her eyes.

Paul Jones lowered his head and murmured, inhaling the fragrance of Uma's earlobes.

"If you take my room key, you'll have to behave."

Uma then realized that she had indeed accepted something from the other party.

But she simply thought it was just a business card.

Room key?

Can you just buy that stuff?

In the entertainment industry, accepting someone's room key implies tacit approval of certain relationships.