Financial Services >> CEO Interviews >> April 29, 2002
ROBERT S. SMITH is the Chief Operating Officer of Friedman, Billings,
Ramsey Group, Inc. Since joining FBR in late 1996, Mr. Smith has
participated in a number of initiatives, including the company's
December 1997 initial public offering. He was also involved with the
launch of FBR's online investment bank and electronic brokerage service,
fbr.com. Mr. Smith helped execute FBR's strategic alliance with Fidelity
Investments and the acquisition (pending) of Money Management
Associates/Rushmore Trust & Savings, a Bethesda, Maryland-based
investment adviser and thrift. Mr. Smith became General Counsel of FBR
in 1996, and Executive Vice President in 1997. He assumed the role of
Chief Operating Officer in 1999. Mr. Smith has been associated with FBR
since its inception in 1989, serving as the company's outside Counsel.
He graduated from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, and he
practiced law there for three years before moving to the United States
in 1985. Mr. Smith received a graduate Law degree from the University of
Virginia in 1986 and was a Partner with the law firm of McGuire, Woods,
Battle & Boothe, LLP, until he joined FBR. Profile
EMANUEL J. FRIEDMAN is the Chairman and co-Chief Executive Officer of
Friedman, Billings, Ramsey Group, Inc. He co-founded the company ' one
of the most successful capital markets and private equity firms in the
nation ' in 1989 with Eric Billings and Russ Ramsey. Mr. Friedman
oversees the company's asset management operations and plays an active
role in FBR's corporate finance activities. Mr. Friedman developed FBR's
award-winning sales, research and trading group, as well as its unique
team-oriented culture. Mr. Friedman also led FBR's involvement in
numerous additional bank and thrift recapitalizations during 1993,
including Chevy Chase, Riggs Corporation and Dime Bancorp, Inc.
Throughout the mid-1990s, Mr. Friedman was active in building out FBR's
alternative investment vehicles. In April 1998, Mr. Friedman was awarded
the CEO of the Year Award by George Washington University. Mr. Friedman
actively supports a variety of charitable organizations, both personally
and through the Friedman, Billings, Ramsey Charitable Foundation. He
sits on the Board of Directors of several Washington area charitable
organizations, and is a regular speaker at the Tomorrows Children's Fund
Investment Research Conference which benefits children with cancer and
blood disorders. He began his career in the securities industry in 1973
at Legg Mason Wood Walker & Co., Inc. as a Retail Broker. In 1985, Mr.
Friedman left Legg Mason to become Senior Vice President in the
Institutional Sales group at Johnston, Lemon & Co., Inc. While at
Johnston, Lemon, he focused on the thrift industry and became an active
market maker in thrift equity and debt securities. In 1989, Mr. Friedman
helped create a when-issued market for the stock of the Federal Home
Loan Mortgage Corporation. Mr. Friedman received a Bachelor of Arts in
Education from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and his
Juris Doctor from The Georgetown University Law Center at Georgetown
University. Profile
whole industry of brokers, dealers and investment banking? How would you
contrast that with what has transpired and how the
