About us
An independent firm, and the reasons that matter.
We own no trading book, we lend no balance sheet, and we answer to our clients rather than to a parent’s quarterly targets.
Who we are
Founded by three bankers who wanted a shorter client list.
We started in 1998 with one floor, eleven people, and a rule that has not changed since: only take a mandate we can staff with the people whose names are on the pitch. That rule keeps the firm smaller than it could be, and it is the reason clients stay.
Independence is not a slogan here, it is a constraint we chose. Without a lending book to place or a balance sheet to defend, the only asset we have is the quality of the judgement in the room. Everything below is organised around protecting it.
Countries
31
Offices across the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia Pacific.
Professionals
1,900
Bankers, analysts, and investment staff, two thirds of them outside the head office.
Advised
$412bn
In announced and completed transactions over the last twelve months.
How we operate
Four rules that hold when a deal gets difficult.
01
Independence first
We hold no position that could put us on the other side of your transaction, and we do not take fees for outcomes we cannot influence.
02
Named accountability
Every mandate has one partner whose name is on the engagement letter and who sits in the room when the hard call is made.
03
Confidential by default
Information stays inside the deal team. We do not use one client’s plans to win another client’s mandate.
04
Long relationships over loud ones
More than half of our revenue comes from clients we have advised for a decade or longer. We are content to grow at that speed.
Our standard
We are measured by the advice we give when it is inconvenient: the deal we argue against, the price we say no to, the quarter we tell a client to wait out.
Marcus Ellery, Head of Global Advisory
Where we are
Thirty-one countries, one reporting line.
Americas
- New York
- Toronto
- São Paulo
- Mexico City
Europe and Middle East
- London
- Frankfurt
- Zurich
- Dubai
Asia Pacific
- Hong Kong
- Singapore
- Tokyo
- Mumbai
Come and see how we work.
Analyst programmes open each autumn. We read every application and we say no politely, but we do say.