Would you work at a market maker for illiquid markets?
I heard about this company called SecondMarket on Nightly Business Report last night. What do you all think about this? It seems like one of those things that someone should have set up long ago, but then again, if the big timers like the NYMEX or CBOT get involved, I could see SecondMarket getting squished.
So the debate: Are firms like SecondMarket (there are some more out there I think) the next big thing, or a flash in the pan? Would you work at one of these firms?
...I guess not?
I don't know what secondmarket is, but I trade illiquid securities. It's not like an exchange at all and it will not be like an exchange in the near future. The market makers can do very well because there is less price opacity and the bid offer is much bigger than with liquid stuff (stocks/treasuries/TBAs).
The biggest guys in my area are CS/DB/JPM/Citi/BofA... the usual suspects.
SecondMarket? (Originally Posted: 08/01/2012)
This is purely academic but how much do the guys at SecondMarket make? I figure not much but I was wondering if anyone knew something first hand. Every time I see Barry Silbert on TV I want to punch someone.
wikipedia said that there was 1 billion dollars of transactions in 2011 and second market takes 3-5% as a fee. So i guess that translates to about 40 million dollars in revenue
Wonder how much of that volume was on facebook... +35%? Anyone have an idea on their head count? I remember in 2009 when I was looking around at the job market and they had some cover story in a magazine describing their 6 million or whatever revenue and I pretty much wrote it off because senior guys there must have only been making like 100k. Anyway, just curious where they are now.
Firms offering a secondary market for illiquid securities (Originally Posted: 11/15/2009)
Firms like SecondMarket, is their business model sustainable or will it fade once the IPO and M&A markets re-emerge ?
I haven't seen their business model or financials, but it should be sustainable. They aren't bearing any risk and don't seem to have significant operating overhead, so a decline in volume might hurt them but they should still be doing well. Also, the IPO market is not going to come back anytime soon - M&A is going to remain the preferred exit, both for market reasons, and because the costs of SOX compliance have raised the threshold at which firms can justify a public exit. However, firms that fall under that threshold are probably too small for even SecondMarket to support a market in their pre-public equity, so I don't see the continuing dearth of public exits helping them that much. Again, I'm not sure where most of their flow comes from, but from what I recall of their press + poking around the site, it seems like most of their business is in more high-profile pre-public companies (a la FaceBook, ZipCar, etc) that will go be going public within the next 24 months.
But don't you think there is a limited demand for these securities, especially since firms have to file to go public if they exceed 500 shareholders ?
Anyone know SecondMarket.com (Originally Posted: 03/06/2011)
SecondMarket is a start-up company providing platform for trading illiquid assets. What is the future of this market? Is it a good time to join this company at this moment?
Good company started by some Emory people. I think they have a good concept - I know they're growing pretty rapidly. Not knowing any other options, it seems like a good place to be.
If it's the same one I saw a year or two ago, it seems like a great idea.
I know a little about the private company market, is that the area you're interviewing for ? It seems a lot of the work is legal i.e. guiding buyers and sellers through rules and regulations of the market as opposed to analytical. But the company seems to be really active in that area currently due to employees of companies like Facebook, Zynga, etc listing their shares on the secondary market. They're doing well but what happens when the Facebook well runs out ?
I may have a chance to work in their technology team in the summer to build their trading platform. In addition to private company stocks, many other assets are traded on it. Actually trading volume in private stocks only accounts for about 5% of the total trading volume last year.
Ok. I guess I don't know as much about them as I thought I did, lol. I've met them in their offices in FiDi a year and a half ago, seem like a good group of guys, no ivy-league environment there. A huge differentiator for a lot of these firms i.e. SharesPost, SecondMarket etc is their trading platform, so you're going to be doing important work, that's for sure. They're expanding in Asia too I've read, overall good prospects over the next few years at least.
Sint et reprehenderit aspernatur minus repellendus hic. Quidem voluptatibus autem aliquam recusandae vitae repellat eligendi est.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...