In an industry where timing is everything, Lexicon Partners, the financial services advisory boutique, seems to have got it right. The firm has been fortunate in doing 45 deals in the three years since its inception, despite atrocious market conditions.

The firm has already worked on seven deals this year, with others poised to materialise soon. Andrew Sibbald, a co-founder of Lexicon and one of four managing directors, says the timing of the firm's formation was inspired. It began life just before mergers and acquisition (M&A) activity plunged, and therefore before the bulge-bracket firms embarked on the hefty redundancy programmes that prompted a host of other bankers to start similar ventures.