In keeping with the austerity push that has been a hallmark of the broking sector since the global financial crisis erupted, Wilson HTM's staff last month vacated their digs - and harbour views - at Sydney's Governor Phillip Tower.
In Melbourne, the firm ceded its space in the neo-classic Herald & Weekly Times tower - with majestic views of the MCG - to the redeveloped site of the old stock exchange.
The location shuffle saved the firm $600,000, with every dollar a valuable one, given it recorded a $2.3 million deficit in the first half and a $7.6m loss in 2011-12.
However, as any ghosts of old brokers around the Collins Street site would attest, the industry's fortunes are subject to violent ebbs and flows. As the listed brokers adjust to the tough times - and many would say belatedly - the rebounding stockmarket promises to save them from the fate of their peers who have been subsumed on the cheap.
"We think most of the hard yards have been done in terms of cost cutting," says Wilson HTM chief executive Andrew Coppin. "In 2013-14 we will be returning to profitability."
At its recent AGM, Bell Financial Group reported volume and market-share improvement in the first quarter, as well as a recovery in funds under advice to near-record levels of $25 billion.
BFG reported first-half earnings of $2.9m, a welcome return to the black after the previous $300,000 loss. Revenue improved 18 per cent to $39.4m, driven by a 22 per cent improvement in share turnover to $24.4m.
Chairman Colin Bell reminded attendees, probably redundantly, that 2012 was a "lousy" year, with the firm chalking up a $2.8m loss.
The listed broker model has often been criticised as inappropriate for brokers, given lumpy revenue flows and the frequently eccentric nature of the individuals who can't easily be moulded into a corporate structure.
(Reflecting the perils of being listed, Wilson HTM was forced to confirm to the market that Coppin faced claims of "inappropriate behaviour" made by two former staff, which he has denied).
In a case of consummately bad timing, Wilson HTM listed in June 2007 at $2 a share, just in time to see the market peak in November. Austock listed on December 7, 2007, at $1.80 a share and five days later Bell Financial Group did likewise, also at $1.80. Perth-based Euroz, which listed in the 90s, has opted for a quieter niche in the resources sector.
As the gloom of the bear market spread, a flurry of consolidation saw Patersons Securities subsume the listed William Noall while the ANZ bought out its remaining interest in internet broker Etrade.
Later, Bell Potter absorbed the unlisted Southern Cross while Austock sold its broking arm for a peppercorn sum to Intersuisse (now Phillips Capital). Wilson HTM last year absorbed the key people from the struggling Investor first, which remains listed as a developer of investment and superannuation platforms.
Bell argues BFG's "simple and transparent" business model doesn't work well in bad markets, but the reverse is true in the case of better conditions.
"Despite the very recent hiccups, the outlook today is far better than it was this time last year," Bell says.
The principals of the problem-plagued Wilson HTM pondered privatisation, but after protracted soul-searching they opted to retain the firm's listed status with the support of major holders including 19.9 per cent investor Deutsche Bank.
"Their preference was to maintain a liquid and visible market," Coppin says. "The potential for a re-rating from realising the true value of our assets is better played out in the public market."
Coppin says there's a trade off between the significant cost of maintaining a listing and the benefit of a valuation premium when conditions are more bullish.
On the corporate advisory side, HTM Wilson is eyeing "four or five deals, mainly in mining services" and is honing its research coverage.
Coppin describes January as "quiet", February as "exceptional" and March as "OK".
"April has been a bit slow, but there are three or four transactions we are working on," he says. "Private clients have gone a bit quiet. The market has rallied and people are wondering whether it will continue."
Euroz has fared better than its peers during the market lull, but now faces choppier conditions as miners rein in their growth plans.
Executive director Peter Diamond says market sentiment and deal flow were improving, only to go backwards in April.
"We are WA-centric and the resources and mining services sectors were hit hard in April," he says.
"Pipeline-wise it's been quiet, no one jumping out of cakes with streamers going off.
"There's plenty of loose cash, but it's very choosy about what it will invest in."
Euroz is cushioned from the mining mayhem by its stake in two spin-off listed investment firms, OzGrowth and Westoz Investment Company.
"Our yield investments like Finbars, iiNEt and Cedar Woods have done remarkably well," Diamond says. Euroz has always been profitable, but he concedes there are "degrees of profitability".
"Volumes are down in our world and there still seems to be a lack of confidence," he says.
As with Wilson HTM, Euroz retained faith in the listed broker model.
Since listing, he says, Euroz has returned $200m in dividend to shareholders, courtesy of its low-cost strategy.
"We are not a retail broking model," he says. "We have one office with low overheads."
Wilson HTM's Coppin says when confidence and volumes return, earnings will "come back and come back twice as hard".
Colin Bell says BFG enjoys "extraordinary leverage" to rebounding markets: "We are confident that will in time be reflected by much better earnings."
