Investment Banking

My early work and

My early work and publications centered around expanding on the analysis of life insurance in my dissertation and its relationship to investment banking. Douglass North

I am much less concerned with whatever it is technology may be doing to people that what people are choosing to do to one another through technology. Facebook’s reduction of people to predictively modeled profiles and investment banking’s convolution of the marketplace into an algorithmic battleground were not the choices of machines. Douglas Rushkoff

Let’s be honest: the

Let’s be honest: the trappings of investment banking are quite tempting. I do miss it sometimes. And to be honest, there was a time I’d read the ‘WSJ’ in the morning, and for years I have done that. Chetan Bhagat

The general culture of

The general culture of investment banking has deteriorated over the years. We did a $6 million deal years ago for Diversified Retailing and we were rigorously and intelligently screened. They bankers cared and wanted to protect their clients. The culture now is that anything that can be sold for a profit will be. ‘Can you … Read more

There’s more honor in

There’s more honor in investment management than in investment banking. Charlie Munger

It’s my guess that

It’s my guess that something like 5% of GDP goes to money management and itsattendant friction. I define it broadly – annuities, incentive pay, all trading, etc. Nobody else has used figures that high, but that’s my guess. Worst of all, the people doing this are among the best and the brightest. Hundreds and thousands … Read more

It’s natural that you’d

It’s natural that you’d have more brains going into money management. There are so many huge incomes in money management and investment banking – it’s like ants to sugar. There are huge incentives for a man to take up money management as opposed to, say, physics, and it’s a lot easier. Charlie Munger

My grandmother got her

My grandmother got her law degree from Syracuse University in roughly 1911 and later co-founded with her husband an investment banking firm on Wall Street known as Lebenthal & Co. Buzz Bissinger

So Merrill Lynch has

So Merrill Lynch has launched its first campaign in years to advertise the accomplishments of its investment banking business. The ads feature things like Merrill’s recapitalization of Sierra Pacific. I guess including “helping Enron achieve its earnings goals in 1999” might be a little awkward given that Merrill Lynch bankers are currently on trial in … Read more

Investment banks manage to

Investment banks manage to go bankrupt through their investment-banking activities, commercial banks manage to go bankrupt through their commercial-banking activities. Ben Bernanke