"We Should All Be More Nervous"

That's what Michelle Seitz, the CEO of Russell Investments, said of the asset management industry as it continues to face massive change. She joins Invesco's CEO who told Bloomberg this week that "you’re basically a dead man walking" if you're not of a particular "size or relevance." Then, Lazard joined a growing list of asset managers including BlackRock, State Street and AQR that have outlined job cuts this year while online brokerages like Schwab and E*Trade cut trading fees to zero. For the full TV interview with Seitz on disruption in the industry with me and Alix Steel, click here.

The Russell CEO was honored last night as one of American Banker's most powerful women in finance. That group also includes UBS's Suni Harford, who joined the group executive board this week, and Cathy Bessant of Bank of America, who was on the short list to be the CEO of Wells Fargo before Charlie Scharf was picked -- leaving America's banking glass ceiling exactly where it has long been. Speaking of women, one of the top female bankers at Deutsche Bank, Celeste Guth, moved to Paul Taubman's PJT Partners. She is the second global head of M&A to leave the German lender since early last year.

More in private equity

The glass ceiling discussion comes at an important time. At the world's top private equity firms, only 8% of the investment professionals are women, even as pension fund backers are pushing for more change. Bloomberg's Sabrina Willmer analyzed the figures. Find them here in detail. Separately, she and Heather Perlberg also broke that a huge money-maker for Apollo -- insurance company Athene -- quietly settled a harassment case against its CEO just months before it went public, people familiar with the matter said.

This weekend you should also pick up a Businessweek magazine for the most thorough discussion of the industry that I've seen in years, with a collaboration from dozens of reporters across Bloomberg. Down to return expectations and bankruptcy statistics -- here is the future of staying private.

Also to read, Bloomberg's Perlberg and Ben Bain outline "Barbarians at the Gate," the Washington edition. The industry is working heavily to keep their benefits alive as Elizabeth Warren and AOC step up their criticisms.

More in investment banking

"I'm not anti-banker, I'm pro-algorithm," says Benchmark's Bill Gurley. Silicon Valley venture capitalists met privately this week to discuss why the direct listing is their preferred method of going public. By and large, the top IPO bankers were not invited. But here are the takeaways from the closed-door meeting -- that IPO investors are "more entitled than a millennial," according to Gurley -- plus our discussion for BTV.

Speaking of direct listings, we broke that Airbnb is planning for one next year, and we discuss the decision here for BTV. Frank Quattrone saw the story online and tweeted: "Why pay an additional 20-50% `fee' to the banks' most active trading customers when those returns belong to companies’ shareholders?" Quattrone's company has been known for snatching up the work of pre-IPO companies and helping them pursue M&A instead.

Plus, Bloomberg's Ed Hammond breaks down the lessons learned from the failures of some of the biggest M&A players in the world. What can we take away from 3G, SoftBank and Valeant? He breaks it down here for BTV with Alix.

More on Wall Street

• To start discussing some of the disparities in finance, we spoke to Luminary's Cate Luzio on how to close some of the pay gap. That is, how to ask for more pay at a time when bonuses across Wall Street are largely shrinking. Here's our interview with the 20-year investment banking veteran who started her own business, along with Deutsche Bank economist Torsten Slok.
• September shook up the CEO ranks of a handful of companies, and it shows that investor activism goes far beyond publicly held firms.
• Goldman's Beth Hammack joined us on BTV to describe her view on the longer lasting effects of the Federal Reserve repo operations, and what to expect next week if the central bank doesn't start to take more drastic moves. Hammack, who is chair of the Treasury Borrowing Advisory Committee that advises Mnuchin, also builds a case against the ultra-long bond.
• Speaking of Goldman, we broke that another partner is stepping down. Kane Brenan, who oversaw about $130 billion and worked closely with pensions and other large investors, is leaving for personal reasons and passing the reigns of the GPS business to Greg Calnon. The new leader of that unit was minted as partner last year.
• After being a lone wolf since the middle of last year, former Goldman executive Pablo Salame will be joining Ken Griffin's Citadel to lead the credit business.
• Billionaire Glenn Dubin has been having a tough year -- both struggling to keep up with the market and then by allegations about his ties to Jeffrey Epstein that he denies, Bloomberg's Kathy Burton reports.

Soon to come: Will you be at the IIF Conference in DC the week of Oct. 18? Let me know. I will be there. And Money 2020 is being held in Las Vegas the last week of October. I'll be the MC for the main stage with veterans like Charles Schwab and some of the industry's most-watched upstarts.

Hope to see you soon. -- Sonali