Perella Weinberg Partners Lp (pwp) Case

Executive Summary

Perella Weinberg Partners LP (PWP) is an elite boutique investment-banking firm comprised of highly regarded partners who have a broad range of experience and expertise. The firm’s strategy is to focus on giving old fashioned financial advice where clients come first rather than competing with the big firms. PWP operates on a dual capacity as an advisory business with a focus on mergers and acquisitions and as an alternative investment advisor, while avoiding the investing and financing roles that generate conflicts of interests that are so common at the large firms.

The company came about as a response to Perella and Meguid sharing conflicting managerial principles with those of their employer, Morgan Stanley. Perella, especially, had built a solid reputation of transparency and trust for himself in the investment arena. He began juggling the idea of starting his own firm but wondered how his could be different than what was already in place? What new service or environment could he offer to his clients that would keep them coming back? How could he possibly achieve economies of scale and maintain its sustainability?

To directly address these uncertainties Perella partnered with two other investment gurus and by the time they were ready to open their doors the group had raised capital in the amount of $1.2 billion. Perella quickly realized that the key to its success would be engrained in the guiding principles that formed the circle of trust. He also knew that once the business was established, it would be poised to stabilize over a five-year period. This would not come without its challenges. Ultimately the company would be faced with a decision to go public. The Partners would need to evaluate the pros and cons of such a decision. The recommendation, however, is for PWP to remain a privately held company with the ability to swiftly and calculatedly respond to changing market needs and client demands.

Definition of Problem

“On April 23, 2005, Perella and Meguid resigned from Morgan Stanley” (Clayton R. and Malik A., pg. 1), because they no longer believed in the principles of the Company and its Administration. It was not long before they both realized that the financial industry was where they belonged and with 12 years and 27 years respectively, it was the obvious next step. Perella and Meguid knew that to be successful they had to be different.

The idea of financial advising is certainly not novel. Rightly stated, influential families around the world have been seeking out companies like Accenture, Pricewaterhouse Cooper, and Morgan Stanley to help them further expand their business portofolios and ultimately their net worth. A small company like PWP would have to strategically position itself and create a unique brand. Competing in an industry of self-aggrandized entities would mean having