Grail Advisory Partners, a specialist M&A advisory boutique with offices in New York and Geneva, has changed its name to PL Advisors.
The new branding further emphasises the firm’s exclusive focus on strategic advice for financial services firms and distinguishes it from Grail Partners, a merchant bank focused on private equity investing in the financial services industry.
Within the financial services sector, PL Advisors focuses on the global investment and wealth management industry and other high-growth, high-margin sub-sectors, including financial technology, brokerage and investment services.
Colette R Taylor and Domonkos L Koltai, the firm’s partners and co-founders, worked together at Grail Partners and Putnam Lovell prior to launching Grail Advisory Partners as a dedicated advisory firm. Taylor also held senior positions at Proctor NBF Capital and Freeman & Co, while Koltai served on the investment committee at Amber Capital and was a senior member of the financial institutions investment banking group at Lehman Brothers.
Donald H Putnam (pictured), managing partner of Grail Partners and co-founder of Putnam Lovell, is chairman of PL Advisors. In addition, Neil Rudolph and Robert Picard, two veteran investment management executives, serve as senior advisers. Rudolph was a co-founder of Symphony Asset Management, now a subsidiary of Nuveen Investments, and chief financial officer of Wells Fargo Nikko. Picard is a former chief investment officer of Optima Fund Management and managing director of the Rock Creek Group.
“I am thrilled to be associated with PL Advisors, a firm distinguished by its high standards and clarity of advice,” says Putnam. “It is a great pleasure to continue my partnership with Colette and Domonkos, now extending over a decade.”
“With the convergence of alternative and traditional investment strategies and the impact of globalisation, investment managers need objective, impactful, strategic M&A advice more than ever,” says Taylor. “Our independent voice and uncompromising focus on the needs of our clients allows us to fill that role.”
