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FOCUS: MERRILL LYNCHMerrill Lynch & Co. had a stellar 1997. It was the first brokerage firm to have more than $1 trillion in customer assets. It shelled out $5.3 billion to buy Mercury Asset Management. And competitors tried to become more like Merrill: Morgan Stanley & Co. merged with Dean Witter, Discover & Co., and Travelers Group bought Salomon Inc. Says Financial Service Analytics analyst Michael Flanagan: ''Merrill has caused the rest of the industry to play catch-up.'' In 1998, the going might get tougher. Merrill Chief Executive Officer David H. Komansky must absorb the Mercury acquisition and the huge goodwill hit from paying top dollar for it. ''Merrill has shot its wad'' on acquisitions, says another industry analyst. Yet if Hambrecht & Quist goes for $1 billion or less, Merrill could still snag the investment bank. Merrill also has to maintain more than 16 offices in Asia and the Pacific Rim, where it has distinguished itself by spending heavily to build a local presence. In September, it even opened an office in the Papua New Guinea capital of Port Moresby. But the current turmoil in Asia may force Merrill Lynch to retrench.
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Updated Dec. 30, 1997 by bwwebmaster
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