There's been a lot of talk about how boutique investment banks stand at the cusp of a golden era. To some, that's a lot of hype, but there are some opportunities at hand. The question is, which ones are worth pursuing?

It's hard to interpret the big change at the top of Evercore, where founder Roger Altman is giving up the CEO title. He'll remain as chairman. The new CEO will be Ralph Schlosstein, co-founder of BlackRock. Reuters notes that the two Wall Street vets have known each other for 30 years. 

His mandate seems to be to expand Evercore beyond deal advisory work. The company has made no secret it would like to break out into the full spectrum of asset management. That would make it less like a boutique and more like a full-service operation. It might expose it to some severe dislocation if they can't get it right. Evercore partnered with Schlosstein to launch HighView Investment Group, but the venture was shuttered in April.  

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