Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by f0rgot 1777 days ago
My question is, how profitable are these services that they can keep losing money on an implosion here and there and still want to be in that business? I guess if the other 99 PB clients are netting you $10B you can lose some to Malachite Capital Management and Archegos now and then.
3 comments

It's tough to quantify. It's not just about the PB revenue itself. It's the fact that it's an entry point for a lot of institutional client activity that's necessary for a lot of other lines of business.

For example, investment banking is a very lucrative business. Let's say you're trying to win a big-ticket IPO. To run a credible IPO you need to be able to fill an order book of deep-pocketed, credible public equity investors. That requires having a relationship with these institutions. The primary way those relationships are built is through a prime brokerage business.

Maybe the motivation is not a constant profit for your bank, but a big bonus at the end of the year. With some luck you can collect a few of those bonuses before the next implosion.
PB is a loss leader for everything else.