Start-up
A consortium of Investment banks led by Merrill Lynch and Goldman Sachs decided to create a electronic fixed income "exchange" to provide greater efficiency and liquidity to the fixed income markets. This initiative represented a major disruptive change to existing market structures and many market participants were skeptical and/or unsupportive
Our mission:
Recruit a senior management team capable of building the business and establishing credibility with both the Buy and Sell side senior management. In addition to being evangelists capable of selling the vision of the future benefits for market participants, the management team needed to be able to build a "bulletproof platform" that would mitigate risk to the founding shareholders. They all needed to possess substantial credentials with track records and responsibilities necessary to be successful.
Although there was substantial upside in terms of equity, the venture represented a major risk. Therefore, our challenge was to find a management team capable of handling the challenge, and able willing to take on the professional risk associated with this effort.
Results:
We recruited the CEO, COO and CFO into the company during a 5 month period.
The CEO was the president of and asset management subsidiary of a major insurance company that was in the process of being sold. The sale triggered a change in control agreement creating a liquidity event. Although he was asked to lead the combined enterprise, doing so would have meant relocating and working for an internationally based parent company.
The COO was working for a major sell-side firm as head of operations for the Fixed Income division. His bank had also recently merged with a large foreign based enterprise and he was being offered an early retirement program.
The CFO at the time was the CFO for a captive venture capital division within a major money center bank. He had formerly been the CFO for the fixed income division and was attracted by the equity participation and entrepreneurial nature of the opportunity.
