President's Letter
January 2012
Dear Friends of South Beach Capital,
Greetings to old friends; welcome to new ones; “Thank You” to those who entrusted us with mandates last year and best wishes for good health and prosperity to all.
South Beach Capital’s 2011 agenda remained client centric. While maintaining this focus, we purged our contact data base (with a long overdue “good bye” to 15 well-worn Rolodex trays), streamlined our library of financial services and capital markets topics, challenged our business model, executed client mandates and added a new face to the team, Charles W. (“Chuck”) Ranson, Jr., who brings 29+ years of wealth management experience to SBC’s expert witness practice and expands our asset management advisory capability. Welcome aboard Chuck!
The global financial services sector is undergoing fundamental, gut-wrenching change - - the cruelest manifestation being drastic downsizing (Wall Street speak for “firing”) - that could bring 250,000 pink slips in 2012. The “new, new” Wall Street has yet to take shape. Demoralized firms struggle to adapt to tsunami-like waves of regulation that engulf them. Washington D.C. thunders while the Street has lost its voice and moral authority
The public is confused and angry; Congress is vengeful and on the hunt for villains to blame and the financial media will not let go of the story (Remember Judge Sirica of Watergate fame telling the Nixon defense team that one bedrock of democracy is the requirement to suffer a “…cantankerous press”?). Wall Street must answer for abandoning rigorous due diligence of some clients and certain new (sometimes exotic) securities sold to an investing public greedily chasing Alpha during the heady days of 2006-2008.
What better time to rely on unvarnished advice from seasoned professionals? SBC’s principal survived the last Wall Street meltdown (1974-75), steeled in the cauldron of change that swept through an under-capitalized, partnership-mentality industry. The central characters have changed, but the plot has not.
As stated a year ago, SBC does not subscribe to the notion that investment banks have no redeeming social significance. When practiced with respect for “…high standards of commercial honor and just and equitable principles of trade,” this business is at the heart of new capital formation, financial advice giving and secondary market liquidity.
Here in Miami, green shoots of optimism are in evidence, the Port of Miami is readying itself for a widened Panama Canal, the airport’s facelift is nearing completion - - gone are dark, dimly lit concourses, musty carpets and ill-equipped food vendors and our real estate glut is significantly smaller. South Florida continues to evolve into a vibrant international business center that also knows how to entertain fun seekers in a tropical climate.
South Beach Capital’s goals remain the same, and we invite your inquiry.
- Corporate financial advisory for CEOs, CFOs and boards of directors.
- Advice on capital markets access; public offering/IPO process and wealth management advice.
- Structure and facilitation of corporate ethics and corporate governance seminars.
- Securities/capital markets expert witness advice, opinion and testimony.
- Keynote speaking for corporate off-site events.
Sincerely,
Bruce S. Foerster
[1] Watchword of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (“FINRA”) as spelled out in the FINRA Manual; FINRA Rules, 2000; Duties and Conflicts, 2010.