Barrenjoey settles into ‘Vertical Village’

afr.com:

Barrenjoey Partners’ bankers have affectionately dubbed their new home the “Vertical Village”, as the former start-up research and advisory shop marks its transformation into a full-service investment bank by occupying three floors in Sydney’s Quay Quarter Tower on Bridge Street.

Investment banking, sales and trading and equities research populate levels 17 through 19 in an atrium-like structure, which parallels a coming-of-age tale for the young bank. Staring down the spiral staircase from the 19th floor, however, it is Barrenjoey’s new departments – fixed income, private capital and prime finance – that complete its investment bank credentials.

Barrenjoey Partners moved into its new offices at 50 Bridge Street in Sydney where it occupies three floors. Louise Kennerley

The village moniker speaks to the open-plan, parquet flooring set-up that eschews carpeting. Fixed income trades are in full view, and corporate financiers and research departments are hidden behind frosted glass towards the building’s east wing. Barrenjoey’s partner and backer, Barclays, will occupy a siloed space on the 19th floor.

While new departments and a plush office space signal growth, Barrenjoey’s rise has come at a price. The company has employed hundreds of staff, and incurred $44 million in start-up costs last year, on top of $200 million in operating expenses, while mergers and acquisitions work has slowed considerably.

Australian investment bankers’ fees slumped 50 per cent in the first half of the year, marking their worst six-month year-on-year showing in five years. The absence of IPOs and a 60 per cent fall in fees from completed mergers and acquisitions were the most noticeable factors across investment banking, Refinitiv data showed.