and Deutsche Bank have turned to minority-led firms to lead recent bond deals, which has given them a slice of greater fees and exposure to the rigors of the corporate-bond world.$750 million in bonds earlier this month with support from 11 minority-led firms, received over $1.1 billion in demand from bond buyers, which underscores that strong pedigree exists well beyond the confines of Manhattan's financial district. Siebert Williams Shank, Loop, R.
Typically, minority-owned firms have been assigned lower tiers on corporate-bond deals, such as comanager or arranger. The fees are minimal, and lower-tier firms are not part of pricing discussions, nor do they have visibility over the investor orders. In capital-markets parlance, this is known as a passive role on transactions.
"Being part of the 'go or no-go' call and the pricing discussion is important," Annie Seelaus, the CEO of R. Seelaus & Co., said."Getting to lead deals with regular bond issuers is also great to get that repetition in our sales force and build our chops so we can get bigger business."Women comprise 75% of R.
Seelaus, who took over from her father in 2015, didn't anticipate how powerful corporate connectivity was going to be around diversity and inclusion initiatives, and acknowledges that the movement has galvanized her business. But bulge-bracket banks on Wall Street are starting to"buy in" on diversity and inclusion, even if they make less money on some transactions.