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i'm not an expert but i think of an I-bank in 3 ways. debt, assets and people producing revenue for services and selling products.
for debt i've read rumors that BoA is putting all of Countrywide's debt into some new company they created and may not pay the creditors back. don't know the details or if they can do the same thing with MER. But assume they have to pay back the debts.
Assets are the paper that MER owns and is expected to produce revenue in the future. you can make an educated guess on the future asset performance over a period of time
3 is the wild card. if BoA doesn't take care of the hotshot revenue producers they can leave and maybe take clients with them. some of these client relationships go back to college and grad school. #3 is like any of the mostly IP companies out there now. unlike manufacturing they rely on the knowledge of their people and if the best ones leave there is nothing there. they still have the patents, but the good people are smart enough to create new patents or find new ways to produce revenue.
if BoA screws up #3 than the debt is still there and the return on the investment they made will plummet and they will be in trouble for a long time
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