Over the past decade, Wood & Co has made a habit of going where other investment banks fear to tread.
After the financial crisis prompted a mass pullback from emerging Europe by international players, the firm – originally founded in Prague in 1991 – stepped in to fill the gap. As well as snapping up clients and staff from departing and downsizing banks, it expanded its coverage to include Russia and Turkey.
It has also taken the lead in opening up markets closer to home.
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“At one point a couple of years ago, we found that we were one of only two investment banks systematically looking at Romania,” says Jaroslaw Derylo, head of investment banking for emerging and frontier markets. “Everyone else had left.”
As a result, the firm was able to gain a near-stranglehold on Bucharest’s burgeoning equity market.
