Help power Marketplace this winter when you support the show today. Donate Now!

New bank on the block

Ethan Lindsey Jun 16, 2006

TEXT OF STORY

MARK AUSTIN THOMAS: A new investment bank opened up in New York on Thursday. Perella Weinberg Partners is what they call a boutique firm, that will cater to wealthy investors and companies. Marketplace’s Ethan Lindsey wonders what happened to the common investor?


ETHAN LINDSEY: Investment bankers used to be all about the hoity-toity. But the big name firms have all gone public and merged with consumer banks.

BRAD HINTZ: And what we’ve increasingly seen in terms of Wall Street is that these firms have become larger and larger and more bureaucratic organizations.

Analyst Brad Hintz with Sanford Bernstein says i-bankers worry they’re being relegated to advising the hoi polloi.

On Thursday, former Morgan Stanley rainmaker Joseph Perella struck a blow for the upper crust when he opened the doors of his boutique trading firm.

Some say this could be the beginning of a trend. Does this mean the little guy investor is back at the end of the line?

HINTZ: What it really means is these are fun places to work. That’s a very curious thing to say, but to a dealmaker this is like going to Rome.

In the end, Thursday’s announcement may just be Wall Street splitting up after a wave of too many mergers.

I’m Ethan Lindsey, for Marketplace.

There’s a lot happening in the world.  Through it all, Marketplace is here for you. 

You rely on Marketplace to break down the world’s events and tell you how it affects you in a fact-based, approachable way. We rely on your financial support to keep making that possible. 

Your donation today powers the independent journalism that you rely on. For just $5/month, you can help sustain Marketplace so we can keep reporting on the things that matter to you.