Depending on whom you talk to, the 11 founding investors that have plunked down $100 million in Perella Weinberg Partners may be getting a guarantee. Financial News, citing bankers, reports that Joseph Perella is rumored to be offering a guaranteed return of around 5%, according to one banker, or 7.5%, according to another. Meanwhile, Perella denies reports that some of his new partners are balking at signing contracts because of non-compete provisions that grew out of the recent resignation of Jon Anda, who announced he was returning to Morgan Stanley. Despite all the expertise involved in the new firm, Matthew Lynn of Bloomberg News suggests success for Perella’s new venture is far from certain. Lynn writes that “this is the wrong time to be starting a new, niche bank” given the current trend that favors large firms over Perella-like boutiques, competition from non-banks such as hedge funds and buyout funds and bear-like market conditions.
