And Finally…

Fun(d) management

Global private equity firm Riverside is, by all accounts, a serious business. It has more than $5 billion under management, has an underlying portfolio of more than 80 businesses and is one of a small group of firms that can genuinely boast a global footprint – it has 18 offices across the world – and a focus on small and medium-sized growth businesses.

The firm can also be said to take a serious approach to the industry and wider society; its acclaimed chief operating officer Pam Hendrickson has represented the industry in front of the United States Congress.

What one would never say about the firm, however, is that it takes itself too seriously.
Given its penchant for the occasional quirk, pfm was only moderately surprised to find out that in the firm’s New York office, employees are encouraged to “scoot” rather than walk the long corridors. Our spy in the office, located in the Rockefeller Center, managed to capture this image of receptionist Niamh Deacy doing the morning mail round on one of the firm’s silver Fuzion Cityglide scooters. This isn’t just frippery, says our spy; the introduction of the scooter has “immediately improved efficiency.”And it’s fun too.

Women on Wall Street

Finally the women on Wall Street have received the recognition that they deserve on the big screen, with the release of the new movie Equity.
Dubbed “The She-Wolf of Wall Street,” by Rolling Stone, Equity follows the lives of three successful women in finance including Anna Gunn, of Breaking Bad fame, alongside off-Broadway actress Alysia Reiner, and actress, producer, and writer Sarah Megan Thomas.

Gunn is starring as a senior investment banker who uses her intellect, determination and ambition to run a tech IPO that is facing scandal and corruption.
The movie also boasts an all-female creative team, from its director, Meera Menon, to its production company, Broad Street Pictures, which was co-founded by Reiner and Thomas.

Considering the similar issues women face in the private equity industry, where women in senior roles are also lacking, we might hope to see a sequel portraying the trials and tribulations facing women at a private equity firm.