Pierpont Securities has launched; the broker-dealer will begin operations backed by about $220 million.

Stone Point Capital, via its Trident IV fund, and General Atlantic LLC committed $100 million each to support the business and Pierpont principals supported it with an additional $20 million.

Both co-investors in the fund have significant experience investing in financial services firms. Among Stone Point’s investments are Asset Allocation & Management Co., Trident IV Credit Holdings and Amherst Holdings, among several others. General Atlantic’s past investment include Saxo Bank, an electronic trading solutions firm, and RiskMetrics Group, a provider of corporate governance solutions and risk management analysis.

Mark Werner will serve as the broker-dealer’s chief executive; he is also a member of the US Treasury Department’s borrowing advisory committee. Werner founded Pierpont with the help of Thomas C. Connor and Joseph P. Blauvelt.

Werner previously served as CEO of Banc of America Securities under BofA Corp.; Connor is another former BofA pro with extensive banking experience, as is Blauvelt.

Pierpont’s board will include Werner; Charles Davis, CEO of StonePoint Capital; James Carey, a Stone Point Capital executive and David Hodgson, General Atlantic managing director.

Credit Suisse acted as financial advisor for the transaction.

The asset management space has been characterized by its deal flow lately and M&A professionals project more deals. A recent Jefferies & Co. study predicted that the asset management industry should anticipate robust deal flow in the near term and that PE sponsors and pure-play asset managers can be looked toward for potential opportunities.

Lightyear Capital completed, last month, the acquisition of three BDs from ING Advisors Network.

And TCW Group manager Jeffrey Gundlach launched DoubleLine asset management with the help of OakTree Capital Management, also in February.

Focus Financial Partners, a New York-based roll-up of wealth managers, also recently saw an investment from Polaris Venture Partners.

Calls seeking comment were not acknowledged by press time.

Financial services industry