Rankings · Q1 2012

The fundraisers who placed the most.

Broker-dealers ranked by the operating-company rounds they were paid to place, as filed with the SEC on Form D. Funds, real estate and insurance products are left out.

‹Q1 2012›an earlier quarter
144company rounds placed by a broker-dealer
40%of the 359 company Form Ds filed
$3.1Bsold in those rounds
5.7%median fee, as a share of the money raised

107 more firms placed at least one company round in Q1 2012. Ties share a rank; within a tie, firms are ordered by money sold.

Since Q4 2011

Who moved

25 of this quarter's top 25 placed no company round at all the quarter before.

0Q2 100Q3 100Q4 100Q1 110Q2 110Q3 110Q4 11144Q1 12

By industry

Who leads each industry

The firm that placed the most company rounds in each industry in Q1 2012, and its share of the rounds placed there. The top 3 of an industry can show a badge.

What it costs

Half of fundraisers take 4% to 7.8%

The sales commission filed on each Form D, as a share of the money sold, across 157 placements in the four quarters to Q1 2012. Half fall between 4% and 7.8%; the middle one is 5.8%. Finder's fees and warrants are not in the figure, so the real cost is often higher.

median 5.8%
0%1%2%3%4%5%6%7%8%10%+

Filed in Q1 2012

The quarter's placements, as they were filed

  • 30 MarGCA AdvisorsViolin Memory IncOther Technology$32M
  • 30 MarCitizens Jmp SecuritiesFuelquest Inc.Other Energy$10M
  • 30 MarMDB CapitalBroadcast International Inc.Other Technology$3.8M
  • 29 MarDouglas Scott SecuritiesPoblano PartnershipOil and GasUndisclosed
  • 28 MarSprott Global Resource InvestmentsAbacus Mining & Exploration CorpOther$2.2M
  • 27 MarGoldman Sachs & Co.ERAC USA Finance LLCOther Banking and Financial Services$300M
  • 27 MarGoldman Sachs & Co.ERAC USA Finance LLCOther Banking and Financial Services$300M
  • 27 MarCormark Securities (USA)Crocodile Gold Corp.Other$8.5M
  • 27 MarJoseph Gunnar & Co.Great Northern Ventures, LLCManufacturing$3.6M
  • 27 MarNorfolk MarketsRenovate America, Inc.Other$1.8M
  • 27 MarLaidlaw & Company (UK)Aspen Group, Inc.Other$150k
  • 26 MarAllen & CompanySterling Mets, L.P.Other$240M
  • 26 MarNational Securities CorporationManhattan Pharmaceuticals Inc.Pharmaceuticals$11M
  • 26 MarBeacon Securities USNew Zealand Energy Corp.Other$275k
  • 23 MarLazard Freres & Co.Harvest Natural Resources, Inc.Oil and Gas$17M
  • 23 MarDominick & DickermanInEnTec Inc.Other Energy$350k

Looking for someone to place your round?

Every fundraiser we have seen place a company round, with their deals, fees and the industries they work in.

How the table is made

Where do the numbers come from?

From the SEC's Form D data sets. A company raising privately files a Form D, and when a broker-dealer is paid to sell the round, the filing names it with its commission. We count each new filing once per firm named on it, and leave out amendments, funds and real estate. Insurance and investing filings are left out too: they are an insurer's policy accounts and investment vehicles, sold through dozens of firms at once, not companies raising a round.

Why is the latest quarter a quarter behind?

The SEC publishes the data sets quarterly, after the quarter closes. A quarter only appears here once its filings are in.

Can a firm change its place?

No. The table is computed from filings alone. A firm can claim its page and add to it, but cannot change what it placed.

What is the badge?

Firms in the overall top 10, or the top 3 of an industry, can show their standing on their own site with a badge from their page. It updates when the next quarter arrives.

What does it leave out?

Rounds where nobody was paid to sell, which is most venture rounds, and placements a firm makes without filing. A low rank is not a verdict on a firm; it is what the filings show.