Question-and-Answer Session
Operator
Your first question is coming from Andrea Jao - Lehman Brothers.
Andrea Jao - Lehman Brothers
I was hoping to hear about your outlook for Wealth Advisory, Corporate Client and affiliate managers. Given current market conditions, if you don’t mind reminding us what initiatives you have in 2008, that would help us out.
Ted Cecala
Well Andrea, as you know, we’ve spend a lot of time expanding the footprint of both of those businesses. We have talked about our expansion into Europe, the creation of additional products. This has been a key driver for the Corporate Client Services business and we look for that to continue.
In the Wealth Advisory area, we recently acquired a firm in Boston; that adds a key market that we’ve not had in the past, some development of that business in that market. We are in key markets throughout the United States and we believe that we can continue to leverage that presence and grow this business.
As you know, we invested heavily in the family office platform, our multi-family office offering. That is doing well and we look for growth in that particular business as well.
Andrea Jao - Lehman Brothers
How would you say market conditions impacted these business in 4Q and what’s your outlook going into 2008?
Ted Cecala
Bill is here, he can talk about the CCS business and I’ll step in on the Wealth Advisory side.
William Farrell
Obviously we’re all aware of the impact, especially the after-tax securitization market, at this point in time and the dramatic reduction in issuances and even the issuances of new debt into the market.
However, our model has been built on a portfolio of products that hopefully help when times get difficult in certain parts of the capital markets business. Two examples of that would be the tender option bond business that we entered into in 2007 and have made great inroads into that; the CDO business and the back office supported CDOs is another business; even though CDO issuances have decreased, we are still seeing issuance of CLOs commercial loan obligations, along with our default business, which is very strong and our expansion in Europe for not only entity management, but Capital Market Services. So, again, I think it’s the portfolio of products and the offerings that we have will help us hopefully ride through a [inaudible] securitization market.
Andrea Jao - Lehman Brothers
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