This year's Power Issue is, of course, defined by the meltdown. The powerful players that we highlight in the next four pages are the people at the center of all the turmoil. They will have a direct impact on how this industry looks in the future. And some of them will define their legacies by how well they seize the day now.

Even if the industry has stepped back from the precipice and avoided a full implosion, it likely will still endure a slow, hard grind for most of this year. To be sure, it remains to be seen which of the big companies will survive the year with their brands intact—if they survive at all. All the while, money will be made and lost, which is putting clients on edge and advisors on notice.

Some of our power brokers here aren't even in the industry. Sources who weighed in with ideas widely agreed that the real power affecting Wall Street won?t be coming from Manhattan?s skyscrapers, but rather from Washington.

In his role as President-elect Obama's Treasury Secretary—and heir to the financial mess—will Timothy Geithner be able to hold everything together? Will Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) make major legislative change? We profile both men here.

But we certainly didn't ignore New York. Will John Mack keep Morgan Stanley on the straight and narrow path? How well will Wachovia be integrated into Wells Fargo? And how will Jamie Dimon manage his new, bigger empire? These are just some of the profiles you'll see here.

To build our list, we gathered names and talked to analysts and experts. In the end, it was a subjective call as to who made the cut and who didn't.

Let us know how your list would have been different.

Marten Hoekstra, Interim CEO, Global Wealth Management, UBS

It was quite a year for Marten Hoekstra. Following a deluge of negative headlines involving billion-dollar writedowns, the auction-rate securities blowup and allegations that UBS illegally helped clients avoid taxes, he ended 2008 as head of UBS' global wealth management business, which oversees CHF 2.9 trillion(US$2.4 trillion) of client assets. Hoekstra was given theinterim promotion after former chief Raoul Weil's indictment in connection with the U.S. Department of Justice's investigation into the firm's cross-border private banking operations.

Hoekstra, who now commutes each week between his New Jersey home and UBS corporate headquarters in Switzerland, acknowledges the firm's "heavy reputational damage" impeded recruiting and increased advisor attrition during the second and third quarters of 2008. But, he says, the surprising part was how quickly the trend turned around. By the fourth quarter, UBS was enjoying its best recruiting numbers ever. Granted, much of that turnaround can be attributed to the massive problems at some of the firm's competitors. But UBS also pulled off an impressive coup-capturing the cream of Lehman Brothers' advisory force by hiring 26 of its highest producers with combined assets of nearly $11 billion.

While his outlook for 2009 is pessimistic in terms of revenues, Hoekstra sees opportunities for his team to capture assets in the down market as more clients seek to change advisors. "We need to make sure we don't switch to maintenance mode," he says. "We played defense with our clients for months. We've only recently been able to start with offense and rebuild."

To that end, Hoekstra believes both the firm and individual advisors need to own up to their mistakes. He says clients want to hear firms take responsibility for writedowns and the auction-rate securities issue. At the same time, advisors need to have "no denial" conversations and apologize to their clients if they didn't fully explain the portfolio risks.

John Mack, CEO, Morgan Stanley

John Mack casts a long shadow over the brokerage and advisory world. Shortly after arriving at Morgan Stanley in 2005, he lured James Gorman from Merrill Lynch to turn around Morgan's dejected advisor force, a feat Gorman achieved efficiently during his two years on the job. And during last year's meltdown, Morgan was one of the two companies (along with Goldman Sachs) that soldiered through with the fewest chinks put in their armor. Not that the armor came away unscathed: Morgan seemed on its last legs in November when its share price bottomed at $9.20. But what's one harrowing weekend time waiting for a cash infusion compared to a shotgun marriage with Treasury holding the shotgun and stockholders holding the bag?

Will it be enough to keep Morgan afloat? Many say yes. But more noteworthy is the fact that Mack likely will stay dry. Having led a famous turnaround of Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB) as co-CEO, Morgan's current chairman and CEO long ago proved himself both a player and a survivor.