JPMorgan OKs crypto for rich - Ackman axes SPAC deal - Deal toy gold rush

Happy Saturday, and welcome to Insider Finance. Here's a rundown of our top stories from the past week:

• Bill Ackman pulled the plug on a complex deal for his huge SPAC
• JPMorgan is opening up crypto funds to wealth clients who want them
• We took a look inside the rise of Schonfeld's Ryan Tolkin
• It's been a wild year for Wall Street's deal toy makers
• UBS and Deutsche Bank were the latest to bump pay for junior investment bankers

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Bill Ackman's SPAC deal implosion stunned investors and infuriated his Reddit fans. Lawyers say they saw it all coming.

SPAC investors thought Bill Ackman was "magic." But his Universal Music Group plan always had its skeptics. Despite a rabid online fan base, the Pershing Square SPAC's stock traded down as wrinkles arose.

Ackman's claim that the SEC wouldn't let it buy into UMG was no surprise to some lawyers.

Read more here.

Inside a wild year for Wall Street's 'deal toy' makers: Business is rebounding as M&A jumps but raw materials like crystal are tough to find

Business is booming for deal toy makers, who create awards for Wall Street transactions. But these companies have also had to figure out how to navigate supply-chain issues and shipping to people working at home.

Get the inside look here.

JPMorgan just became the first big bank to give retail wealth clients access to cryptocurrency funds

Banks, hesitant to enter the crypto space, have been pushed to respond to growing client demand.

Now, JPMorgan is giving its financial advisors the green light to allow all its wealth-management clients access to cryptocurrency funds.

Read the full story here.

Inside the rise of Ryan Tolkin, the 34-year-old investing mastermind behind Schonfeld's transformation from family office to 600-employee hedge fund heavyweight

Under Ryan Tolkin's leadership, Schonfeld transformed from a small operation into a $8.8 billion hedge fund.

Insider spoke to people who know him best. They shared how he got here and insights into his leadership style, as well as where he plans to take the hedge fund next.

More on who Ryan Tolkin really is.

57 promising fintechs building the behind-the-scenes tech revolutionizing Wall Street

Insider asked more than 40 top fintech investors to nominate the most promising fintechs. Of the 70 nominations received, 57 were fintechs selling directly to businesses.

Here are the B2B fintechs to watch in 2021.

Millennium is using its AWS-hosted cloud tech as a key weapon to attract and retain top portfolio managers

As the war for talent rages among hedge funds, one firm is using technology as a key value prop for recruitment and retention.

Millennium Management, the New York-based hedge fund founded by billionaire Israel Englander with $52.3 billion of assets under management, says it is investing in cloud technology to stand out.

Read the full story here.

A slew of Wall Street firms are raising pay - here's our running list

Investment banks have been raising base pay for junior and mid-level bankers, and UBS and Deutsche Bank made moves this week.

Keep track of all the Wall Street pay moves here.

Other stories readers loved this week

• Here's the 11-page pitch deck a blockchain startup looking to revolutionize private-markets investing used to nab $48 million from investors like Morgan Stanley
• Jefferies CEO Richard Handler dishes on M&A outlook, talent wars, and the book every young banker should read right now
• Challenger bank HMBradley grew too fast. Now it's looking for new bank partners as it pushes into mortgages and auto loans.
• Big Law associate salaries are skyrocketing, but not nearly as much as partner profits. These 2 charts break down the growing divide.