Robertson Stephens is a

wealth management Wealth management (WM) or wealth management advisory (WMA) is an investment advisory service that provides financial management and wealth advisory services to a wide array of clients ranging from affluent to high-net-worth (HNW) and ultra-high- ...

firm serving high net worth individuals and

family office A family office is a privately held company that handles investment management and wealth management for a wealthy family, generally one with at least $50-$100 million in investable assets, with the goal being to effectively grow and transfer w ...

s. The firm is registered with the

United States Securities and Exchange Commission The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government, created in the aftermath of the Wall Street Crash of 1929. The primary purpose of the SEC is to enforce the law against market ...

as an investment advisor. Robertson Stephens was founded as boutique investment bank, Robertson Stephens & Company. It was among the most active investment banks in the technology sector at the height of the internet boom, underwriting 74

IPO An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investment ...

s with a total value of $5.5 billion between 1999 and 2000. Robertson was the lead underwriter of some of the most prominent firms of the 1990s stock boom, including Switchboard,

Mapquest MapQuest (stylized as mapquest) is an American free online web mapping service. It was launched in 1996 as the first commercial web mapping service. MapQuest vies for market share with competitors such as Google Maps and Here. History MapQuest's ...

E-Trade E-Trade Financial Corporation (stylized as E*TRADE) is a financial services subsidiary of Morgan Stanley, which offers an electronic trading platform to trade financial assets. The company receives revenue from interest income on margin balanc ...

and Vericity, as well as retailer

Bebe Bebe, Bèbè, Bebé, Bébé or BeBe may refer to: People and fictional characters * Bebe (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or nickname * Bebé, footballer Tiago Manuel Dias Correia (born 1990) * Bebé (f ...

. The firm was closed by its parent company,

FleetBoston FleetBoston Financial was a Boston, Massachusetts-based bank created in 1999 by the merger of Fleet Financial Group and BankBoston. In 2004 it merged with Bank of America; all of its banks and branches were converted to Bank of America. History ...

, in July 2002, as a result of the collapse of the technology sector and the end of the

dot-com bubble The dot-com bubble (dot-com boom, tech bubble, or the Internet bubble) was a stock market bubble in the late 1990s, a period of massive growth in the use and adoption of the Internet. Between 1995 and its peak in March 2000, the Nasdaq Compo ...

.Robertson Stephens to close
/ref>
''The New York Times'' It had approximately 950 employees at the time it was shuttered. In February 2013, Robertson Stephens reopened as a wealth advisory firm, Robertson Stephens LLC, providing institutional-level investment management services to individual clients until closing at the end of 2017. In January 2018, with sponsorship from private equity firm Long Arc Capital, Robertson Stephens Wealth Management relaunched operations as Robertson Stephens Wealth Management, LLC. As of December 2021, the firm has 62 employees and over $3.9 billion in client assets.

History

The firm's earliest predecessor, Robertson, Colman & Siebel was founded in 1969 by Sandy Robertson, Robert Colman and Ken Siebel. In 1971,

Thomas Weisel Thomas "Thom" Weisel (born February 1941) is an American banker, businessman, and investor. He was one of the pioneers in the development of the high tech industry in Silicon Valley. Weisel is the founder of Montgomery Securities and later Th ...

, who would later found

Montgomery Securities Montgomery Securities was an investment bank based in San Francisco, California, that specialized in high technology and health care sectors. The firm was founded in 1978 by Thom Weisel. The bank was acquired by NationsBank Corporation on Jun ...

and

Thomas Weisel Partners Thomas Weisel Partners Group, Inc., also known as TWP or Weisel, is a U.S. growth focused investment banking firm headquartered in San Francisco, California. The firm was launched in January 1999 by Thom Weisel and other personnel from the form ...

, joined the firm, which was renamed Robertson, Colman, Siebel & Weisel. In 1978,

Thom Weisel Thomas "Thom" Weisel (born February 1941) is an American banker, businessman, and investor. He was one of the pioneers in the development of the high tech industry in Silicon Valley. Weisel is the founder of Montgomery Securities and later Th ...

, the junior partner pulled off what was described later as a "mutiny" of the firm. Weisel became chief executive of the firm and prompted the departure of Robertson and Colman. Weisel changed the name of the original firm to

. Robertson left the firm in October 1978 and founded Robertson, Colman, Stephens & Woodman along with partners Robert Colman and

Dean Woodman Dean Woodman (November 4, 1928 – December 19, 2019) was an American businessman, philanthropist, and co-founder of the investment bank Robertson Stephens. Biography Woodman was born in 1928 NationsBank NationsBank was one of the largest banking corporations in the United States, based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The company named NationsBank was formed through the merger of several other banks in 1991, and prior to that had been through mul ...

, which was by this time the parent company of rival technology investment banking boutique

. The significant internal tensions between Montgomery and Robertson Stephens led to the sale of Robertson Stephens to

BankBoston BankBoston was a bank based in Boston, Massachusetts, which was created by the 1996 merger of Bank of Boston and BayBank. One of its predecessor banks started in 1784, but the merged BankBoston was short-lived, being acquired by Fleet Bank in 199 ...

in 1998 for $800 million. Shortly after the sale of the firm to BankBoston, Sandy Robertson left the firm and was succeeded by COO Bob Emery. Robertson Stephens would change hands again the following year when

Fleet Financial FleetBoston Financial was a Boston, Massachusetts-based bank created in 1999 by the merger of Fleet Financial Group and BankBoston. In 2004 it merged with Bank of America; all of its banks and branches were converted to Bank of America. History ...

merged with

in 1999 to form

FleetBoston Financial FleetBoston Financial was a Boston, Massachusetts-based bank created in 1999 by the merger of Fleet Financial Group and BankBoston. In 2004 it merged with Bank of America; all of its banks and branches were converted to Bank of America. History ...

Closing Robertson Stephens (2002)

Although its business was squeezed by major Wall Street banks such as

Credit Suisse First Boston Credit Suisse First Boston (also known as CSFB and CS First Boston) is the investment banking affiliate of Credit Suisse headquartered in New York. The company was created by the merger of First Boston, First Boston Corporation and Credit Suisse, ...

, and its leading technology banker

Frank Quattrone Frank Quattrone (born 1955) is an American technology investment banker who started technology sector franchises at Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank, and Credit Suisse First Boston. He helped bring dozens of technology companies public during the 19 ...

, which swept in and grabbed the most lucrative IPOs, Robertson Stephens was among the most active investment banks in the technology sector at the height of the internet boom. Robertson Stephens completed the underwriting 74

s with a total value of $5.5 billion between 1999 and 2000. However, by 2001, Robertson was suffering from the downturn following the collapse of the

due to a lack of interest in new technology IPOs and a lack of companies well suited for IPO. Robertson Stephens lost $61 million of

net income In business and accounting, net income (also total comprehensive income, net earnings, net profit, bottom line, sales profit, or credit sales) is an entity's income minus cost of goods sold, expenses, depreciation and amortization, interest, a ...

for Fleet during 2001 for its parent bank,

, compared with a $216 million profit in 2000. Fleet put Robertson Stephens up for sale in April 2002 and struggled to come to terms with a buyer.

Bear Stearns The Bear Stearns Companies, Inc. was a New York-based global investment bank, securities trading and brokerage firm that failed in 2008 as part of the global financial crisis and recession, and was subsequently sold to JPMorgan Chase. The compa ...

and Jefferies & Co. were among the most active in discussions. Senior executives of Robertson Stephens also looked at a potential management buyout. Ultimately, Fleet failed to find a buyer and made the determination to pursue a liquidation of Robertson Stephens in July 2002. Robertson Stephens was among the "Four Horsemen" firms devoted to technology deals in

Silicon Valley Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that serves as a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical areas San Mateo County ...

along with

Hambrecht & Quist Hambrecht & Quist (H&Q) was an investment bank based in San Francisco, California noted for its focus on the technology and Internet sectors. H&Q was founded by Bill Hambrecht and George Quist in California, in 1968. H&Q was an early player in ...

and Alex Brown. At the time of its closing in 2002, Robertson Stephens was the only one of the Four Horsemen remaining as an independent, operating firm in the aftermath of the bursting of the

Reopening Robertson Stephens (2013–2017)

Robertson Stephens reopened its doors in February 2013 at the original firm's location at 555 California Street, San Francisco, California. Robertson Stephens LLC was the parent company for four operating subsidiaries; Robertson Stephens Advisors LLC, a SEC Registered Investment Advisor; Robertson Stephens Securities LLC, a securities broker-dealer and member

FINRA The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) is a private American corporation that acts as a self-regulatory organization (SRO) that regulates member brokerage firms and exchange markets. FINRA is the successor to the National Associati ...

/SIPC; Robertson Stephens Asset Management LLC, an institutional asset manager; and Robertson Stephens Insurance Services.

Robertson Stephens Wealth Management (2018–present)

In 2018, Robertson Stephens Wealth Management relaunched its operations with financial support from Long Arc Capital, with offices in San Francisco and New York. Robertson Stephens comes under new management with CEO Raj Bhattacharyya, CIO Stuart Katz, CFO David Westbrook, COO Vikram Chugh and CCO Michael Curley. In 2019, Robertson Stephens Wealth Management added offices in

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by business acquisitions. As of December 2021, the firm has 62 employees and over $3.9 billion in client assets with twelve offices in San Francisco, Marin County, Santa Rosa & Pasadena, New York, Sun Valley & Boise, Holmdel, Austin & Houston, Seattle, and Denver.

References

Notes

More losses at Robertson Stephens
''San Francisco Chronicle''.
Deal Will Marry Longtime Rivals. Robertson Stephens, Montgomery together again
''San Francisco Chronicle''. April 14, 1998

''New York Times'', June 9, 1997 * ttp://www1.excite.com/home/careers/company_profile/0,15623,792,00.html Robertson Stephens Profile {{Bank of America Former investment banks of the United States Banks established in 1978 Banks disestablished in 2002 1997 mergers and acquisitions 1998 mergers and acquisitions Companies based in San Francisco 1978 establishments in California 2002 disestablishments in California