Soundview Technology Group is an American technology-focused firm known primarily for its

equity research Securities research is a discipline within the financial services industry. Securities research professionals are known most generally as "analysts", "research analysts", or "securities analysts"; all the foregoing terms are synonymous. Researc ...

on technology and other growth-oriented companies. The securities and investment banking company was integrated into Charles Schwab in 2003. The business was relaunched in 2005 by former research director Ken Tuttle, who finally obtained SoundView's trademarks in 2011. Prior to 2003, Soundview was unique in that it combined accepted Wall Street research and distribution methods, with the intimate (albeit "arms length") relationship with Gartner analysts, and arguably became the leading technology research boutique on Wall Street. SoundView was based in

Old Greenwich, Connecticut Old Greenwich is an affluent coastal village in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 6,611. The town of Greenwich is one political and taxing body, but consists of several distinct section ...

, and is now in Boston, Massachusetts.

History

In 1977,

Gideon Gartner Gideon I. Gartner (March 13, 1935 – December 12, 2020) was an American businessman, entrepreneur, educator and philanthropist. Often referred to as the father of the modern analyst industry, he is best known as the founder of Gartner, Inc. (for ...

initiated a financial service for

Gartner Group Gartner, Inc is a technological research and consulting firm based in Stamford, Connecticut that conducts research on technology and shares this research both through private consulting as well as executive programs and conferences. Its clients ...

via a partnership with Dillon, Read & Co., which distributed its reports and

personal services ''Personal Services'' is a 1987 British comedy film directed by Terry Jones and written by David Leland, about the rise of a madam of a suburban brothel which caters to older men. The story is inspired by the real experiences of Cynthia Payne, ...

to Dillon, Read & Co. investment client organizations. Gartner Group severed the Dillon Read relationship and became an independent

broker-dealer In financial services, a broker-dealer is a natural person, company or other organization that engages in the business of trading securities for its own account or on behalf of its customers. Broker-dealers are at the heart of the securities and d ...

, Gartner Securities Corp., in 1984. Gartner Securities was spun off to its shareholders just before its first public offering in 1986, providing analysis, investment advice, and investment banking services, to institutional investors. The firm changed its name in 1988 to Soundview Technology, when Gartner was acquired by

Saatchi & Saatchi Saatchi & Saatchi is a British multinational communications and advertising agency network with 114 offices in 76 countries and over 6,500 staff. It was founded in 1970 and is currently headquartered in London. The parent company of the agency gr ...

. From 1988 to 1991 the firm remained a small focused brokerage operation with the bulk of their clients being small institutions and hedge funds.

Expansion

In 1991 the firm hired a senior investment banking executive, Brian Bristol, to begin to build an investment banking practice. Additional analysts were added to grow coverage as the technology sector continued to perform well.

Acquisitions

Wit SoundView acquired the E*Offering business unit of E*Trade in May 2000 to further expand into technology investment banking. This acquisition not only added a substantial number of new staff but also more offices in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

and

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Merger with Wit Capital

At the peak 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 ...

in early 2000, SoundView merged with

Wit Capital Wit is a form of intelligent humour, the ability to say or write things that are clever and usually funny. Someone witty is a person who is skilled at making clever and funny remarks. Forms of wit include the quip, repartee, and wisecrack. Form ...

to form Wit SoundView in a $320 million all-stock transaction. Wit Capital had been founded just a few years earlier, in 1996, by Andrew Klein. Wit positioned itself as an online investment banking firm focused on the Internet and technology sectors. Wit had been backed by

Goldman Sachs Goldman Sachs () is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered at 200 West Street in Lower Manhattan, with regional headquarters in London, Warsaw, Bangalore, H ...

, which sold its stake in 2001.

Sale to Charles Schwab

On November 19, 2003, Charles Schwab announced the acquisition of SoundView for $15.50 per share, or approximately $345 million. The acquisition was intended to integrate SoundView's

content with Charles Schwab's trading execution capabilities. SoundView received a 57% premium to its market price before the announcement.SCHWAB TO BUY SOUNDVIEW FOR $321 MILLION
''New York Times'', November 20, 2003

2011 sale of trademarks

In 2011, the SoundView trademarks were acquired by one of the SoundView partners to begin building a new SoundView Technology Group.

References

{{reflist Defunct financial services companies of the United States Financial services companies established in 1977 Financial services companies disestablished in 2003 Former investment banks of the United States Companies based in Fairfield County, Connecticut Greenwich, Connecticut 1977 establishments in Connecticut 2003 disestablishments in Connecticut