Quick & Reilly Group, Inc.

Quick & Reilly Group, Inc. is the holding company for Quick & Reilly, Inc., one of the three largest discount brokerage houses in the United States in the 1990s, with 13 percent of the market in 1996. Another subsidiary, U.S. Clearing Corp., was the third largest in its field, maintaining accounts and clearing securities transfers for hundreds of banks and brokerage firms. A third, JJC Specialist Corp., was engaged in softening price volatility for hundreds of stocks on the New York Stock Exchange. It was the second largest firm in this field. Quick & Reilly was an industry leader in efficiency and profitability. Leslie Quick, Jr. ran an unsuccessful money-management firm before teaming with Kevin Reilly in 1974 to form a small New York City brokerage house, mainly with borrowed money. When the federal government eliminated fixed commission rates in 1975, Quick & Reilly, with a staff of only four, was the first company with a seat on the New York Stock Exchange to offer a significant discount to the public--40 percent below the standard rate--for its no-frills service. By 1986 Quick was presiding over a family empire. One son was chief operating officer, responsible for the holding company's day-to-day operations. Three other sons ran the three subsidiary units, and a daughter was editor of the company newsletter. The stock market crash of October 1987 put an end to Quick & Reilly's unbroken string of annual record profits and earnings. Quick & Reilly held 12 percent of the discount brokerage market in 1992. Quick & Reilly moved its headquarters to Palm Beach in 1992 and acquired the specialist operations of Stokes, Hoyt & Co., bringing its roster to 123 companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange.