Boutique is (again) chic

Bigger is better, except when you're a bulge bracket bank in a bear market. Thus, the effects of the bust cycle may make room once again for boutique investment banks.

Last week, a boutique franchise returned to the biotech fold. Vector Securities came out from under the rock (Prudential) to announce it has formed a separate investment and merchant banking business that will focus on emerging companies in the healthcare and life sciences industries. Prudential acquired Vector in 1999, but subsequently elected to get out of the investment banking space, which resulted in the departures of several key Vector employees (see BioCentury, June 14, 1999 & Jan. 2, 2001). ...