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| Additional information |
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| Vining Sparks IBG, LP |
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Profile:
The Vining Sparks’ trading desk is able to structure and bring new securities to market for agencies of the U.S. government. By being able to tailor these securities to customers’ needs, the firm is consistently ranked as one of the country’s top 20 underwriters of newly issued agency debt.
The firm has developed an in-house computer system that continually monitors all customer portfolios. This real-time system is able to alert customers to any number of situations that they need to be aware of. Examples include bonds that have been called, bonds with timely news updates, and other strategy-related issues. Vining Sparks is very active in providing investment education to its current and prospective customer base. Each year, the firm holds dozens of seminars in various locations across the country.
• Corporate Finance
Howe Barnes' Corporate Finance staff assists publicly held and privately held financial institutions in raising funds through debt and equity offerings, merger and acquisition advice, valuation studies and fairness opinions.
* Debt and Equity Offerings - Funds can be raised through an initial public offering or private placement and can include a wide range of debt or equity alternatives.
* Valuation Studies and Fairness Opinions - Howe Barnes also conducts business valuations, and issues opinions assessing the fairness of transactions which can be used to determine values for various financial interests, including debt and equity holders.
* Merger and Acquisition Activity – Howe Barnes' Corporate Finance staff can be a source for planning, negotiating, and implementing successful M&A programs through a professional study of the resources, and the short-term and long-term objectives of both the seller and prospective buyers.
• Market-Making Activities
Howe Barnes commits its own capital to making principal markets for hundreds of banks and thrifts throughout the country. Their proprietary traders are continually searching for and adding dynamic community banking companies to the market making list. Howe Barnes has a unique philosophy of developing a complete relationship with their banking clients which allows them to significantly impact the trading in many stocks.
Howe Barnes' market-making activities extend to non-SEC reporting companies on the NASDAQ, Bulletin Board and the Pink Sheets. Financial institutions which do not trade on an exchange have realized many benefits from using Howe Barnes as a market maker for their shares. These benefits include increased liquidity, assistance in executing stock buy backs, anonymity for selling shareholders and familiarity to the capital markets.
• Research
The experienced bank research analysts at Howe Barnes utilize objective fundamental analysis to initiate and provide comprehensive coverage on community banks and thrifts. This coverage includes basic reports, earnings estimates and company updates. Research also conducts statistical compilations on hundreds of other financial institutions and prepares various industry studies which highlight ongoing trends in the bank and thrift sectors as a whole. A majority of the financial institutions followed by Howe Barnes' research analysts are traded on the Nasdaq National Market although some are closely held and traded in the "pink sheets" or on the over the counter bulletin board. |
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Overview:
Vining Sparks is nationally recognized as a leading broker/dealer in serving the investment needs of institutional investors. The firm was started in 1981 by Jim Vining to serve the investment and asset/liability needs of community banks. Vining’s former experience as an officer of the Federal Reserve and an executive vice president at Union Planters National Bank provided a unique platform for the vision he had for the firm. High interest rates and high inflation coupled with banking deregulation had created an environment whereby banks needed practical solutions to manage interest rate risk. As a result, Vining wrote the first computer-based asset/liability model for community banks and integrated it into the decision-making process for investment portfolio management. The combination proved to be invaluable to the banking industry and the firm grew rapidly.
From an initial staff of 17 people, Vining Sparks now employs more than 300 people in 14 domestic offices and one in London . The firm has continued its presence in the banking industry and currently transacts securities business with more than 2,500 banks. However, Vining Sparks has long grown beyond its initial customer base of community banks. The current customer base includes hundreds of other clients such as savings and loans, credit unions, municipalities, money managers, trust departments, insurance companies, pension funds, and investment advisors. Vining Sparks has over $50 million in capital and an annual trading volume exceeding $200 billion with customers located in all 50 states and many foreign countries.
Customers of Vining Sparks receive access to proprietary analytical tools that assist them in the investment portfolio decision-making process. Just as Vining integrated asset/liability management into the portfolio management process for banks, the firm now assists clients of all types in making decisions that are appropriate based on the client’s specific investment objectives. This assistance is provided through specialized professionals utilizing the proprietary analytical tools mentioned above and is one of the primary reasons Vining Sparks is unique compared with other broker/dealers. The firm’s employees come from varied backgrounds and include certified public accountants, chartered financial analysts, former Wall Street professionals, former banking officers and regulators, as well as experts in other industries.
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