Our Profile
What Sets Us Apart
Founded in 1989 with less than 20 employees, FBR Group’s growth was rapid by most measures – it reached $1 billion in gross revenues only 15 years after opening its doors. The decision to structure the company as a real estate investment trust (REIT) with a balance sheet investment strategy involving REIT-qualified investments and a taxable capital markets subsidiary is unique in the securities industry.
In its balance sheet strategy, FBR Group invests in mortgage-related assets and merchant banking opportunities. Most of the income from these principal investments is untaxed at the corporate level and is passed directly on to shareholders as taxable dividends or capital gains.
FBR Capital Markets Corporation, our investment banking, institutional trading and asset management subsidiary, became a top ten-ranked investment bank in a little more than a decade.1 At the root of that success – and a fundamental element of our culture – is a thorough commitment to highly differentiated fundamental research and analysis. The discipline we employ as underwriters and investors examines the structure and operations of a business in the context of its industry and helps us determine a given company’s optimal financial structure for maximizing both risk-adjusted returns and intrinsic value. This strict analytical process, which has consistently proved its value, provides the basis for our research, investment decisions and investment banking advice.
FBR Capital Markets focuses exclusively on areas in which we can clearly make a difference and add value. We do this by establishing broad and deep specialized industry platforms that offer detailed industry knowledge and sector-concentrated expertise in research, trading, distribution, investing, mergers and acquisitions and capital-raising.
We have the capacity to react quickly when needed to meet the demands of a rapidly changing marketplace, and we are known in the industry for our ability to get deals done, often in ways that involve the use of innovative transaction structures. From January 2003 to December 2007, we completed more 144A common stock private placements to institutional investors than the rest of the industry combined,2 and during the same period we were the #1 book-running manager for all U.S. common stock transactions for issuers with market capitalizations of $1 billion or less.3
FBR Capital Markets has a highly effective, differentiated distribution capability based on long-standing relationships with a wide cross-section of institutional capital markets clients. We believe our institutional brokerage professionals – one of the most knowledgeable sales teams in the industry – are distinguished by their in-depth understanding of the companies and industries on which we focus. Many of our institutional clients have been long-standing investors in transactions that we have brought to the capital markets and have continued to have a close relationship with us as they have grown in size and assets under management.
Our early trading roots were with small hedge funds and other smaller, typically regional institutional accounts. Over the years, we served these clients well, earning their respect with a solid track record of success. As a result, in addition to the top 50 institutional accounts which we and our competitors serve, we have the ability to communicate effectively with and distribute securities through a substantial network of mid-size institutional clients.
In the first quarter of 2007, we greatly expanded our mergers and acquisitions capability, adding a 26-person banking team with substantial experience serving middle market companies in consumer products, energy, healthcare, business services and diversified industrials. This acquisition offers clients a more complete array of banking services, enhances our resources and advisory expertise and strengthens our middle market investment banking presence. We are also building a reputation for our work with private block trades and public and private recapitalizations.
We are in the process of expanding our cross-border capital markets capabilities. FBR International, Ltd., based in London, specializes in institutional brokerage and corporate finance and covers the United Kingdom and continental Europe. Our London office now includes a growing investment banking presence along with the sales and trading unit established nearly a decade ago. We currently are adding dedicated trading, research and investment banking professionals for European equities and debt issues.
Having our headquarters in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area is a distinct advantage. Our Washington Policy group provides a vital regulatory and legislative overlay to our analyses of companies and their sectors. Their access and experience enable us to judge the implications of unfolding events at their earliest stages, enabling us to provide clients with a unique perspective on legislative and regulatory actions that often have a far ranging impact on business and investment decisions. FBR Capital Markets’ Research team brings an on-the-ground perspective to the analysis of companies doing business with the government, providing what we believe to be the most comprehensive defense, government information technology and homeland security coverage in the industry.
1) Source: Dealogic. As measured by the aggregate value of the
2) Source: Dealogic. Relates to total deal value of all pre-IPO 144A equity offered for
3) Source: Dealogic. Relates to total deal value of all common stock or common equity, including private placements, offered for all
PAST RESULTS ARE NO GUARANTEE OF FUTURE PERFORMANCE.
