You can't keep a good man down. So Andre Lee has set up his own firm, 01 Inc, in Seoul. Lee, who ran failed investment bank Peregrine's fixed-income side, is credited with single-handedly created the Asian debt markets. When Asia melted down, as did Lee's bonds and Peregrine, he looked much less visionary .
His new operation will, says 01's brochure, open "the door to a brave new world of finance through the proactive use of information technology". This techno-fix, Lee hopes, will "demythologize the investment banking process". His brochure states: "We will have the ability to compress time by reducing countless wasted hours in hard-to-arrange meetings, unanswered phone calls and the physical delivery of vast tracts of documentation. We will guarantee greater efficiency for less fees as a result."
Lee reckons "digital finance" is the way forward. What it is isn't yet clear, but it's not the old model of a phone salesperson selling bonds to the same 100 institutions. The emphasis is on hi-tech, low-cost business, with savings being passed on to clients.
01's investment bankers have, in Lee's words, a dual background in IT and finance that makes them "integrated information bankers". As well as bond and equity sales, the firm will do M&A and investment advisory. Lee has bought a Seoul legal consulting firm, Hanol Consulting, to aid the process.
"We see ourselves as the front-line troops engaged in everything from origination and due diligence to deal closure on behalf of investing clients," says Lee.
His brochure continues: "There is no substitute for on-the-ground knowledge and experience when it comes to concluding successful deals. At 01 we have valuation skills which have been honed through years of close interaction with myriad companies from every industrial, manufacturing and commercial sector in the region. These are crucial attributes: you cannot work out Asian corporate valuations using a slide rule and a pocket calculator."
As a former Peregrine banker put it: "Andre's certainly got balls." Steven Irvine
Correction
In our article on US hedge funds "Overgrown and full of deadwood" (Euromoney, August), we stated that Julian Robertson sued Businessweek for libel following an article two years ago and won a hefty judgment. This was false. Robertson withdrew his suit. There was no judgment against Businessweek and the magazine did not pay him any money.
We apologize to Businessweek for this inaccuracy.