Women’s apparel chain Talbots has started an auction to sell itself, two people familiar with the matter said and its shares rose as much as 22 percent, writes Reuters. Talbots’ advisor Perella Weinberg has started actively soliciting bids for the company as part of its exploration of strategic alternatives after Talbots turned down a $212 [...]

I interviewed Bob Boldt yesterday, as part of Buyouts Texas. For the uninitiated, Bob is a former CalPERS staffer who went on to become chief investment officer at UTIMCO. He now runs the Agility program for Perella Weinberg, which basically tries to replicate the “large endowment” model of investing. Some quick hits from the interview:

* Bob defended the endowment model, despite the current troubles faced by some of its practitioners. He says the key isn’t allocation, but trying to be a first mover into new asset classes. First into venture capital, first into private equity, first into emerging markets real estate, etc. He acknowledges that endowments didn’t act fast enough when they saw liquidity drying up, but still believes the model will prove superior over time.

* Boldt left CalPERS in 2001, but did discuss the current pay-to-play allegations. “I can categorically say that no one ever told me that I had to make an investment… Sometimes members of the board would ask me to look at things, but never insisted that I recommend them.” He did say that the board once gave

Robert Maguire has joined Perella Weinberg Partners as a partner in the firm’s Corporate Advisory Group in London. Maguire was an investment banker and head of Global Oil & Gas Group at Morgan Stanley prior to joining Perella Weinberg. Perella Weinberg Partners today announced that Robert Maguire has joined the firm as a Partner in [...]

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Perella Weinberg Partners denied statements made by a lawyer that the investment bank received threats from White House officials to drop its opposition to a plan for keeping automaker Chrysler LLC out of bankruptcy. The banking boutique, which prefers to operate in the background, found itself in the spotlight Thursday when [...]