How Wall Street Caters Investment Offerings to Its Richest Clients

Welcome back! Dan DeFrancesco in NYC. Let’s play a game. An American Airlines passenger rushed the cockpit after she couldn’t get a drink. But before you read the story, can you guess what type of cocktail she was after? Hint: Go with your gut.

By the way, we’re still collecting nominations for the top equity research analysts aged 35 and under. Click here to nominate someone. And check out last year’s list here.

On tap, we’ve got stories on Evercore changing its promotion schedule for junior bankers, banks getting nervous about ChatGPT, and how small changes to your diet can make a big difference.

But first, I have an EXCLUSIVE offer for you.

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1. Life on the other side.

Financial wealth can be defined lots of different ways. It could be the number of houses you own, the type of investments you make, or simply the amount of zeros in your bank account. 

But perhaps the best way to measure true financial wealth is simple: access. 

The more money you have, means the more doors are open to you that remain closed for others.

To that point, Insider’s Hayley Cuccinello has a story on how Goldman Sachs offered its richest clients the opportunity to invest in the buzzy fintech Stripe. 

Let’s set aside whether Stripe is actually a good investment* and instead focus on the idea of banks pitching their wealthiest clients an opportunity to invest in high-profile companies that haven’t gone public yet. 

As Hayley breaks down in her story, big banks love doing this type of stuff because it allows them to keep it in the family, so to speak.

If I can take the startup client my investment bankers are working with and leverage my wealth clients to help them fundraise, that’s a win-win. Even better if the cofounders and employees of said startup turn around and come back to me as wealth clients once I help them get rich. And on the cycle goes.

More broadly, this is also just another example of how banks are always finding ways to cater to their rich clients.

Hayley has done an incredible job covering this. From how wealthy parents take out cheap loans to buy their adult children houses and save on taxes, to being able to buy yachts and jets without having to put much cash down and then borrowing against said yachts and jets, to using special trusts to give to charity while still guaranteeing income and saving on taxes.

Click here to read more about how Wall Street is leveraging clients in its investment bank for its wealth business

*(OK, I couldn’t help myself. There has been a lot written this year about Stripe, from its falling valuation to cutting staff to the amount of cash it burned in 2022. All these criticisms are valid and deserved considering its size, but I don’t buy the notion that these are warning signs that Stripe is in trouble. When you consider the wider world of fintech — which is filled with companies with basic financial tools masquerading as disruptors because of their flashy user interfaces and large marketing budgets — there are plenty of startups to be more concerned about. But we build empires to break them down, and it seems it is time to topple some statues at Stripe.)

In other news:

2. If you stick around, I’ll make it worth your while. Wall Street investment bank Evercore has a new promotion program for junior bankers that includes an earlier bump to associate and $70,000 in bonuses. Read more here.

3. Allegations of sexual abuse, hard drugs, and violence at an insurance agency. Arias Agencies is an insurance sales juggernaut for Global Life and American Income Life. But a lawsuit alleges managers knew of a “misogynistic, hostile, unethical, unlawful, toxic and cult-like workplace culture.” Read more here.

4. Black investors who are looking to change the industry by backing underrepresented startup founders. We’ve got a list of 51 Black VCs who are committed to funding more diverse startup founders. Check them all out here.

5. Goldman Sachs is buying back $30 billion of its own shares. Yes, there were layoffs and a potential mutiny over the CEO is on the horizon, but nothing calms a shareholder’s nerves quite like some buybacks. And just a few short days before Goldman’s investor day! How serendipitous!! Read more from The Wall Street Journal here.

6. All the big banks are scared of their employees using ChatGPT. Goldman Sachs and Citi joined JPMorgan in reportedly restricting employees use of the chatbot. Here’s why they are being so cautious.

7. “Why can’t we be friends?” – Larry Fink to the GOP (probably). BlackRock’s CEO is reportedly trying to mend his relationship with Republicans, according to the New York Post. 

8. Maybe NFTs aren’t a complete waste of money after all? Two former Barclays junk bond traders (the jokes write themselves) nabbed a 700% profit by selling their collection of Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs recently. More on how they did it and how much they made.

9. A little bit goes a long way! Forgot scrapping your entire diet. We’ve got manageable changes you can make that you’re likely to stick with and, as a result, will lead to longer-lasting results. Check out all 10 here.

10. You’re into WHAT? We’re a sex-positive newsletter, so we don’t kink-shame. Before you discourage your partner’s suggestion for spicing things up, check out this list of 20 common sexual kinks from sex educators.

Curated by Dan DeFrancesco in New York. Feedback or tips? Email [email protected], tweet @dandefrancesco, or connect on LinkedIn. Edited by Jeffrey Cane (tweet @jeffrey_cane) in New York and Hallam Bullock (tweet @hallam_bullock) in London.