Fortress at the Ramparts

After the filing, Fortress intends to have 89.3 million shares of common stock outstanding. Shares are slated to begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Friday under the symbol FIG.

Goldman Sachs(GS ), Lehman Brothers(LEH ), Bank of America(BAC ), Citigroup(C ) and Deutsche Bank(DB ) are underwriting the IPO.

As more hedge funds go public, the move toward the public market could change the very nature of the game, some observers say.

Richard Bookbinder of Bookbinder Capital Management, a New York investment management firm that focuses exclusively on investing in hedge funds and doesn't currently invest in Fortress, says the offering doesn't necessarily mean that there will be a mass movement of hedge funds to the open markets.

"You're going to see people evaluate whether they want to be in the public domain," he says. But he adds that with all the leveraged buyouts taking place today, "many people don't want to be in public focus all the time," he says.

That being said, Fortress' IPO "represents a unique opportunity for a firm that is clearly global in nature, has built out an infrastructure, has a portfolio and an asset base that is diversified across a number of different strategies."

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