Some bankers will curse this success
YOU might think that news of surging profits at an advisory firm would be a cause for cheer in the troubled investment banking industry.
But STJ Advisors, the boutique operation run by former Nomura banker John St John, has a powerful group of enemies at London’s top bulge bracket banks. They will be hoping that the firm is not still enjoying the same success it reported at the beginning of the year.
Like many independent advisers, STJ trades off distrust between capital-raising clients and large investment banks, staking a claim as an unconflicted, independent voice.
But STJ has a particularly aggressive style, explicitly accusing larger banks of “distorting” issuing prices, a claim that has understandably infuriated its rivals.
Unfortunately for them, STJ’s success looks like a sign that firms are sufficiently nervous about the state of London’s capital markets that they want another hand on the tiller.