Nathan Anderson

Evercore asked this question to 23 candidates in final rounds. Only 3 got it right. “Why does a tightening credit environment shut out sponsors but leave strategic bidders largely unaffected?” Most candidates defaulted to the generic answer “sponsors need leverage.” The 3 who got offers understood this: - Sponsors rely on cheap debt to hit return hurdles - Strategic buyers can deploy cash, revolvers, or equity without depending on external lenders - Higher borrowing costs compress sponsor underwriting, but don’t change strategic synergy math - Strategics evaluate long-term positioning, while sponsors are constrained by financing markets and exit horizons The bank redirects the process toward long-term strategic value, highlighting synergies and competitive positioning instead of IRR hurdles. Once credit tightens, the emphasis moves from financing-driven returns to operational alignment. Evercore's revenue increased 11% in the last credit tightening cycle because they leaned into mandates where strategic logic and synergies carried the valuation. Their edge came from positioning deals around long-term value rather than financing conditions. The winners connected tightening credit markets to Evercore’s edge in driving successful outcomes in processes where synergistic value outweighed financing constraints.

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Investment Banking: IPO Fundraising by Region 💰 So far in 2025 we've seen $88 billion raised via IPO, a 27% year-on-year increase. Geograpically, the U.S. continues to dominate with more than 40% of global fundraising. Here's a regional breakdown of fundraising via Dealogic👇 1) U.S: $37.4B (+45% YoY) 2) Asia (ex Japan): $30.2B (+51% YoY) 3) Europe: $7.9B (-51% YoY) 4) Middle East & Africa: $6.2B (+59% YoY) 5) Japan: $4.1B (+179% YoY) 6) Australasia: $1.5B (+208% YoY) 7) LatAm: $0.4B (-66% YoY) 8) Canada: $0.3B (121% YoY) Financial Edge Training 🏆

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Digital wealth management platform Wealthfront (NASDAQ: WLTH) went public last week raising $485 million in gross proceeds after pricing at $14 per share, the top of its filing range, with an implied market capitalization of approximately $2.05 billion. The IPO marks the 15th US FinTech IPO in 2025, up from just 5 last year. Wealthfront caters to younger generations and digitally native clients and has more than $90 billion in assets on the platform, generating $339 million in revenue and $123 million in net income for the LTM period ending July 31, 2025. See more details in FT Partners’ profile below or here (for professional / institutional use only): https://lnkd.in/eMdAQcMt #FinTech #WealthTech #FinTechIPO

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The SBA just implemented SOP 50 10 8 guideline changes... Here's what every buyer and investor needs to know: 1. 10% Equity Injection Now Mandatory Remember when you could count seller financing on 2-year standby as equity? That’s gone. Now you need hard equity for at least 10% of the purchase price, seller notes can still count for up to half of that required equity, but it has to be on full standby for the ENTIRE loan term, not just 2 years. Overall, I see this as a beneficial change, we see a lot of deals and 90-95%+ leverage deals break way more often than <80% leverage. The majority of deals we see getting done and set up for success are with ~20% of equity down. 2. Multi-Step Buyouts Are Dead This one hurts… The SBA now requires all ownership changes to happen in a single closing. Gone with the tiered buy-out approach. I was just talking with an HVAC owner last week who wanted to gradually transition his business to his service manager over 5 years. That elegant structure used to be pretty common with employee buyouts. Now it’s impossible with SBA financing. We're going to need entirely new capital strategies for employee transitions or partnerships – and that's a huge problem because gradual handoffs are perfect for many business owners who wanted to slowly phase into retirement and train the new owner. 3. Co-Borrower Requirements Will Kill Seller Equity Rolls This one is brutal. If a selling owner retains any ownership after closing (even less than 20%) they must personally guarantee the loan for two years post-sale. Layer in that all new equity holders even 1% passive investors will be classified as a co-borrower is the nail in the coffin for seller equity roll deals. This change will effectively eliminate seller equity rolls in SBA deals. Convincing a seller to personally guarantee millions of debt betting on the acquirer they just met a couple months ago, is not going to work. Overall, this is horrible for individual buyers reliant on the SBA. Big win for shops who have access to non SBA debt. 4. Expansion Exception to Equity Injection No equity injection is required if: - The buyer and seller entities share identical ownership - They operate under the same 6-digit NAICS code - And are geographically close. So, 0% down deals are simple and easy if you already have a platform and want to do a mini roll-up. Means less of a need for raising equity for follow-on acquisitions. — There’s a bit more to say, but those 4 changes I see are the most impactful to most of our acquirers. These changes take place June 1. The Mainshares team will continue monitoring SBA updates and providing further insights as new information becomes available.

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Cambridge Wilkinson Investment Bank Closes $25MM Senior Credit Facility for Small Business Finance Company NEW YORK, October 9, 2025 – Cambridge Wilkinson (“CW”) is pleased to announce the closing of a $25 million senior credit facility for a small business finance company. The lender, a private credit fund with whom Cambridge Wilkinson has successfully closed prior transactions, is well known for delivering flexible financing solutions to specialty finance and lower middle market companies. This represents our client’s first institutional facility, a milestone that will allow the company to execute on its growth strategy and expand its ability to provide financing to small and lower middle market businesses across the U.S. “The small business finance sector continues to demonstrate strong demand for institutional capital solutions that enable scale and stability,” said Rob Bolandian, Co-Founder and Global Head of Investment Banking at Cambridge Wilkinson. “We are proud to have structured a facility that provides our client with both flexibility and growth capacity as they enter this next stage." The specialty finance market is evolving rapidly, with increased participation from banks and private credit providers in transactions that support entrepreneurial lenders. Cambridge Wilkinson remains at the forefront of this trend, advising clients on innovative capital structures that align with long-term growth and value creation. www.cambridgewilkinson.com Capitalize on Our Connections About Us: Cambridge Wilkinson is a leading global investment bank with the speed, connections, and the confidence to get transactions done. With a focus on middle-market companies, we arrange debt and equity capital raises from $25 million to $5 billion and advise on mergers and acquisitions. In addition, we also provide flexible and scalable leverage facilities and credit facilities for private equity funds and alternative credit funds which range from $25 million to $2 billion. We bring deep experience working with specialty finance institutions, real estate entities, funds as well as businesses spanning a variety of other industries. We offer unique access to a broad network of capital sources including large family offices, credit funds, banks, non-bank credit groups, insurance companies, private equity, sovereigns, and endowments. Rob Bolandian, Co-Founder & Global Head of Investment Banking RBolandian@cambridgewilkinson.com Howard Chernin, Co-Founder & Chief Operating Officer HChernin@cambridgewilkinson.com #team #capitalraise #capitalmarkets #global #credit #equity #privateequity #privatecredit #familyoffice #specialtyfinance #realestate #esg #fundfinance #globalinvesting

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Here at the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia annual Fintech Conference, after introducing SEC Chairman Paul Atkins for his speech on the SEC's approach to digital assets. One of his key arguments is that even if something is issued pursuant to an investment contract, that doesn't mean it always constitutes a security. So trading in digital assets should be outside securities laws once networks are operational, even if original issuance is investment-focused. On one view, this is just the "sufficiently decentralized" test proposed by SEC official Bill Hinman in 2018, though the current SEC will likely take much looser view of when tokens move outside the securities regime. He also said the SEC is planning to issue a token taxonomy, defining which digital assets meet the definition of securities. (And suggested that most wouldn't.) Although as he noted, Congress is working on crypto market structure legislation. And he asserted that the SEC would remain vigilant against fraud in crypto markets.

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Wall Street's recent lateral hiring wave is creating unexpected ripples across promotion pipelines—and the effects could last through 2027. Hundreds of external MDs joined firms on two-year guarantees, naturally affecting advancement timelines. But there's a newer dynamic that's quietly reshaping the game: experienced Directors/VP3/4s who have been RIF'd are trying to reenter the market at lower VP-level roles and compensation, creating a competitive landscape that few saw coming. Read the full analysis to understand what this means for your career trajectory.👇 #InvestmentBanking #WallStreet #CareerDevelopment #Banking #Finance #TalentManagement Retry

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Houlihan Lokey‘s Tech team is pleased to present its 2024 HCM Technology Year in Review, covering the macro backdrop of the sector, themes in HCM, public market updates, and investment trends. Click here to read the report in full: https://lnkd.in/e-CDn8iK

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"We propose a new method for forecasting stock market returns in a data-rich environment... Rather than predicting returns directly, [it] decomposes them into three components: dividend-price ratio, earnings growth, and price-earnings multiple growth." https://lnkd.in/eygcexdw

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Asset-based credit is no longer just an alternative—it's the future of private credit. As banks retreat and consumer behavior shifts, here are key learnings from Sachin Patel, MD at Neuberger Berman: - High Yields, Short Duration: Asset-based credit delivers strong returns with durations as low as 18 months, ideal for navigating volatile markets. - Diversification Beyond Corporate Credit: Backed by hard or financial assets like consumer loans, SMB financing, or data centers, it’s uncorrelated to traditional corporate credit, enhancing portfolio resilience. - Alpha vs. Beta Strategies: Alpha strategies focus on private assets, offering higher yields and shorter durations compared to beta strategies, which lean on mortgages and public ABS. - Consumer Behavior Drives Opportunity: Digital-first preferences and regulatory innovations like open banking create tailored financing solutions, reducing reliance on blunt tools like mortgages. - Data Science is Critical: Real-time collateral analysis and bespoke structuring help mitigate macro risks and optimize returns, ensuring portfolios stay agile through economic cycles. The ability to tap into these opportunities isn’t just about owning assets. It’s about mastering the complexity of data, technology, and evolving market dynamics. https://lnkd.in/dcK6zr25 #AssetBasedCredit #PrivateCredit #FinTech #EmergingManagers #InvestmentStrategy

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Private equity is fueling a record-breaking run of RIA M&A in 2025, and consolidators are leading the charge. One trend I’ve been watching closely is how PE involvement in M&A is shifting. As I shared with InvestmentNews, “The amount of free cash flow that they're [private equity firms] requiring to make an investment continues to go down. Right now, it's hovering at like a minimum free cash flow of $5 million, though I'm having increasingly more conversations with firms that are willing to take minority stakes in even smaller advisors with the same investment theory, which is it's easier to 3x [valuation] off of a lower base.” Appreciate InvestmentNews for highlighting what’s driving activity behind the scenes. Read the full piece here: https://lnkd.in/eZ72Jk56 #turkeyhillmanagement #InvestmentNews #wealthmanagement #investmentbanking

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Conceal to Steal - First Brands The bankruptcy of First Brands has exposed the private credit market for the structural flaws in how our industry operates. First Brands, a global auto parts manufacturer with recognizable consumer brands, filed for Chapter 11 with more than $10 billion in liabilities. Buried beneath its operational collapse was something deeper: a financial architecture built on opacity. Reports suggest that the same assets were pledged multiple times to different lenders — a stunning breakdown of trust and transparency. This wasn’t a failure of a business model alone; it was a failure of governance, disclosure, and collective discipline within the private credit ecosystem .Its CEO, Patrick James, had a history marked by repeated financial misconduct and opaque financing schemes, including earlier insolvencies and lawsuits alleging misrepresentation of asset control and capitalization. Yet, despite or because of these public red flags, the company continued to raise billions through off-balance-sheet vehicles and “shadow” financing networks. Over $2 billion reportedly vanished or remains unaccounted for, prompting a federal investigation. Private debt has matured rapidly into a mainstream asset class, yet much of its infrastructure remains adolescent. Financing arrangements are often bilateral, documentation opaque, and asset pledges confidential — conditions ripe for “malfeasance through opacity.”In public markets, leveraged loans, CLOs, and HY bonds come with well-defined disclosure regimes and pricing signals. In private credit, too often, we rely on relationship access and quarterly summaries as proxies for oversight. The First Brands collapse illustrates the danger in assuming that complexity equals professionalism.If private credit wants to continue its evolution as a credible, enduring pillar of modern finance, it’s time we grow up as lenders. That means insisting on:Shared collateral registries to prevent duplicate pledges Aggregate exposure visibility across lender groups Real-time communication frameworks among creditors Mandatory audit trails for off-balance-sheet vehiclesCredit markets thrive on information symmetry. What First Brands exposed was our fragility when that symmetry disappears. Transparency isn’t just a regulatory ideal; it’s a form of protection — for lenders, investors, and ultimately, for the credibility of private credit itself.We owe it to our profession to demand more light in what has become — quite literally — a shadow market. #PrivateCredit #HighYield #CreditMarkets #Transparency #RiskManagement #FirstBrands #CorporateGovernance #Bankruptcy #LendingPractices #CreditManager #FinancialEthics #CreditStrategy #DebtMarkets #PrivateDebt #CLOs #CreditRisk #AlternativeLending #FinancialTransparency #LeadershipFailure Jefferies was ‘defrauded’ by First Brands, says chief executive - https://on.ft.com/3WLhNxD via @FT

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