| Grayson (l) and Auerbach: the ardent traveller |
Everyone dreams of having the one big idea that makes their fortune. Jonathan Auerbach and David Grayson had one - a network connecting US institutional investors to local equity brokers worldwide. Ten years on, the company's staff has grown from three to 35, it has established relationships with about 85 local brokers from Jakarta to Palestine.
Jonathan Auerbach, co-partner says the rationale for the equity brokerage company was clear to him back in 1992, though other brokers must now be kicking themselves that they didn't pick up on the idea. He says: "I was chairman of Cresvale International, a broker on the NYSE. It was clear that as the global equity businesses were expanding at the big investment banks, local brokers were finding themselves increasingly marginalized."
Local knowledge Auerbach, who had also run his own firm in London, had worked closely with several local brokers in Europe, and knew their strengths, relative to the big investment banks. He says: "I talked to a few of them about setting up a company in the US to act as their New York office."