For many on Wall Street, the real surprise about the crisis triggered by the collapse of two Bear Stearns hedge funds is that it should have happened to Bear Stearns.

Bear is traditionally seen as the most cautious of the large Wall Street banks, happier taking its cut from client deals than taking risk itself. It has not followed the likes of Goldman Sachs by significantly increasing the amount of capital it puts at risk. However, it has sought to emulate Goldman’s success in managing hedge funds.