Symphony IM to Investors: We’re Too Big To Fail

Goldman’s Symphony is reported to be raising new capital at a $1 billion valuation; the strategy is clear: make the network too big to fail. 14 banks took stakes in the venture last year. By bringing in new investment banks as investors, Symphony hopes to convert them into users as well.

The strategy follows the path used with previous investment in Markit Partners; banks in that case contributed data and capital, then exited nicely when the company went public.

The question here, as always, is whether the buyside will trust Goldman with their messaging, no matter what the purported security.  Can sell-side traffic by itself create sufficient volume to merit these 10-figure valuations, or an eventual public exit?