Montgomery & Co has been known for some years for its M&A advisory services. Now, after pondering for a couple of years what it could do in equities, the US west coast boutique player is pushing into equity research, institutional sales and trading. Although the firm’s headquarters are in Santa Monica, the equities office was set up in July in San Francisco.
Montgomery will focus on small and mid-size companies in the technology, software and biomedical sectors. It will offer specialist research in key areas for growth companies: medical devices, biotechnology, speciality pharmaceuticals, wireless technology, digital media technology and semiconductors.
Wade King heads the research effort, having joined from Wells Fargo in March this year, where he was managing director of healthcare research. But it’s not just planning to offer research on small and mid-cap companies that are now often neglected by sell-side analysts at the bulge-bracket banks. It plans to do IPOs, follow-ons and non-deal roadshows, among other things, and offer trading capabilities.
“We’ve got to be smart,” says John Roediger, who is managing director and head of institutional sales and trading at Montgomery’s new equities practice. “First we’ve got to establish the high-quality relationships, then we’ve got to focus on institutional growth accounts.