"A Boutique of Investment Banking"

Like the national investment and securities chains of Prudential-Bache and Shearson Lehman Hutton, Headford & Co. raises capital on a long-term or permanent basis. But unlike those chains, Headford & Co. provides services in the personalized and expedient way that only a small operation can attain. This firm is what company president George Headford describes as "a boutique of investment banking."

As one of the few locally owned, full-line stock brokerage firms in Fort Wayne, Headford & Co. offers a full line of stocks, bonds, and mutual funds and raises capital for new and existing companies. It also underwrites municipal and corporate bonds and provides insurance investment products.

"We act as an intermediary between banks, underwriters, and other issuers of securities and the investing public," Headford says. "Ours is a higher-risk operation. It's not the short-term, secured lending that you find through conventional bank lending."

For instance, a local grocery chain recently needed $7.5 million to finance a new store in Auburn. "We structured the financing for that store and created a paper campaign that included lower interest rates," Headford says.

Did he say create?

Indeed he did, because being creative is imperative for investment banking firms. "And we can be creative by understanding our clients -- who they are and what they are seeking," he says. "Typically, the kind of company that's ideal for us is one whose profits are limited by inadequate capital." Headford & Co. has also completed multimillion-dollar financing for local clients like the City of Fort Wayne and Shambaugh & Son Inc. Client information, however, is closely guarded.

Business financing accounts for only half of Headford & Co.'s business. With seven brokers on staff, the company spends the other half of its time dealing with personal...