Silicon Valley Bank remains for sale, in whole or in pieces, with bids reportedly due tomorrow. But some of SVB's top bankers are already gone.
Driving the news: Stifel this morning announced that it's hired Jake Moseley, Matt Trotter and Ted Wilson as managing directors in its venture lending business.
Why it matters: While everyone's been focusing on the assets, some of SVB's rivals have been focusing on the people. And the people could be of greater long-term value.
What they're saying: Stifel CEO Ron Kruszewski tells Axios that venture lending, like wealth management, is heavily reliant on relationships.
- "Senior secured loans, for example, can be more about doing business with the institution because they're more of a commodity," he argues. "That's different from what is needed to work with a company just getting started."
- "I think there's a high probability that the venture lending market will change, because of what's happened, but that doesn't change the fact that venture needs banking and lending services."
The bottom line: The longer it takes for the FDIC to resolve ownership of SVB, the less value it may have.
