U.S. Investment Banks Enjoy High IPO Fees Written By: David Neubert 2007-03-27 14:00:17 Sarbanes-Oxley, a draconian visa application process, in addition to relatively low valuations and higher interest rates, aren't the only things making U.S. capital markets less attractive to foreign issuers of IPO's; a cartel that keeps IPO fees high is also part of the problem.
Underperformed and Overpaid Written By: Elaine Chan 2008-06-09 21:55:53 The more you have, more will be given to you. The less you have, what you have will be taken away. It seems this is how the world works.
Vikram Pandit Makes Rock Star Status Written By: David Neubert 2007-12-12 15:50:58 Together with Madonna, Sting and Prince, Vikram Pandit, my old boss at Morgan Stanley, has acheived rock star status. He's the only CEO I know of in the world who is referred to only by his first name.
I've been seeing a lot on CNBC and other media dissing the Citigroup Board for choosing Vikram Pandit as its (C - $31.53) CEO. I used to work quite closely with Vikram at Morgan Stanley and I found him to be a thoughtful, insightful, extremely level-headed and intelligent manager. He's one of the few managers I ever had who would understand every screw-ball idea I would throw at him. And believe me, I would dream up a lot of crazy derivative products.
He has a conservative management style and considers every angle of a decision before moving forward. I could almost see him going through his checklist on every decision, Profit Potential, Legal, Employee Morale, Reputation Risk, Credit Risk, Shareholders, Credit Rating, Sovereign Risk. I can see him thinking the same way going forward at Citigroup. Virkam was head of the Equity Division as we openned our Brazil office. He aksed good questions, but unlike several other divisions at Morgan Stanley, was not so risk averse that we walked away from the potential.
So, I'm hanging on to my Citigroup. If you've been watching my Citigroup stock purchases you know that I'm underwater on the position. But I think the market's harsh treatment of Vikram right now is a symptom of a "beat up Citigroup" crowd mentality.
