Gruntal & Co. was a boutique

investment banking Investment banking is an advisory-based financial service for institutional investors, corporations, governments, and similar clients. Traditionally associated with corporate finance, such a bank might assist in raising financial capital by und ...

and brokerage firm based in New York City. Prior to its acquisition in 2002, the firm was among the oldest independent investment banking houses in the U.S. The firm was founded as Sternberger & Fuld in 1880 by Maurice Sternberger, who partnered Ludwig Fuld. Sternberger bought a seat on the New York Stock Exchange in 1881 for $20,000. They were joined in 1884 by a third partner, Samuel Sinn, and the firm became Sternberger, Fuld & Sinn, with an office at 52 Broadway in

Lower Manhattan Lower Manhattan, also known as Downtown Manhattan or Downtown New York City, is the southernmost part of the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The neighborhood is History of New York City, the historical birthplace o ...

. Gruntal's brokerage business included more than 620 account executives across more than 30 locations throughout the U.S. The firm managed in excess of $19 billion of assets on behalf of its clients through its private client

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-hi ...

business. Additionally, the firm had a well-regarded

equity research Equity may refer to: Finance, accounting and ownership *Equity (finance), ownership of assets that have liabilities attached to them ** Stock, equity based on original contributions of cash or other value to a business ** Home equity, the diffe ...

as well as

sales and trading Sales and trading is one of the primary front-office divisions of major investment banks. The term is typically reserved for the trading activities done by sell-side investment banks who are primarily engaged in making markets for institutional cl ...

operations. Gruntal, which was headquartered in New York City was a member of the

New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is the List of stock exchanges, largest stock excha ...

and the

National Association of Securities Dealers 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 ...

. In 2002, Ryan Beck, a New Jersey–based investment banking firm, announced the acquisition of the bulk of the operations Gruntal.Ryan, Beck To Acquire Bulk of Gruntal
New York Times, April 23, 2002 Following the acquisition, the Gruntal name which had been used since the early 1900s was retired. The firm, which had already been struggling to compete with the bulge bracket investment banks suffered the temporary loss of its headquarters after the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

. The firm was located at 1 Liberty Plaza, across the street from the

World Trade Center World Trade Centers are the hundreds of sites recognized by the World Trade Centers Association. World Trade Center may also refer to: Buildings * World Trade Center (1973–2001), a building complex that was destroyed during the September 11 at ...

. Gruntal had already been eliminating certain businesses, including its corporate bond trading department in July 2001. In 2007, Ryan Beck & Co. was sold to

Stifel Financial Stifel Financial Corp. is an American multinational independent investment bank and financial services company created under the Stifel name in July 1983 and listed on the New York Stock Exchange on November 24, 1986. Its predecessor company was ...

Corporate affairs

Prominent former employees

Steven A. Cohen Steven A. Cohen (born June 11, 1956) is an American hedge-fund manager and owner of the New York Mets of Major League Baseball (MLB) since September 14, 2020, owning just over 97% of the team. He is the founder of hedge fund Point72 Asset Ma ...

founder of hedge funds S.A.C. Capital Advisors and

Point72 Asset Management Point72 Asset Management is an American hedge fund. It was founded in 2014 by Steve Cohen, after his previous company S.A.C. Capital Advisors pled guilty to insider trading charges. In 2018, the company reopened to external investors after a t ...

* Stephen A. Feinberg Co-Founder and Co-Chief Executive Officer,

Cerberus Capital Management Cerberus Capital Management, L.P. is an American global alternative investment firm with assets across credit, private equity, and real estate strategies.Leaders Magazine"Providing Economic Opportunity: An Interview with The Honorable Dan Qua ...

Corporate affairs

Prominent former employees

References

Further reading