Keefe Bruyette Earnings Soar

The New York boutique investment firm had a busy year. In November, Keefe Bruyette finally completed its longtime dream of an initial public offering in which it raised $143 million.

The stock was in such high demand that the firm upped the ante of the offering, selling an additional 278,000 shares, bringing the total offering to 6.8 million.

After pricing its shares at $21 -- the upper end of the expected range -- shares jumped 28% from the offer price during their first day of trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

Keefe Bruyette's path to an IPO was marked by a number of setbacks.

Most notably, the firm, which used to be housed in the World Trade Center, lost 67 of its employees in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Many doubted whether it could rebuild itself. But Keefe Bruyette now employs twice as many people as it did before the terror attacks.

Years before those attacks, Keefe Bruyette was gearing up for its first try at an IPO. But the offering was canceled in 1999, shortly before the firm's then-CEO, James McDermott, was charged with giving his girlfriend, a former porn star, insider trading tips. He was later sentenced to eight months in jail.

Last week, yet another boutique firm, JMP Group, said it intends to come public. The San Francisco investment bank could raise up to $100 million in the offering.

Shares rose $5.06 Tuesday to $36.86.