Those who have capital (money surplus) and want to invest it in a profitable way. They are investors who range in size and net worth from individuals to institutions, and include high net worth (HNW) individual investors, hedge funds, private equity funds, foundations, college endowments, venture capital partnerships, and pension funds. Such investors help finance the requirements of the sell side (i.e., entities which are in need of capital). It is the various institutions that collectively form the financial system (intermediaries) that- in exchange for a fee– bring together the buy side and the sell side and negotiate a middle ground: the terms on which the buy side is willing to invest some of its capital and the sell side is willing to agree to in order to obtain that capital.