Boutique investment bank Evercore Partners really wants to make a splash in the deal world. Evercore's co-chairman and co-CEO Roger Altman says the bank aims to hire about 10 more senior bankers this year, bankers of the big-name variety. That's a lot for a firm that has just 16 such "producing partners" on its roster currently. The latest hire was a big one: Mark Vander Ploeg, a veteran of Merrill Lynch, where he was vice chairman and co-head of consumer, retail, gaming, leisure and transportation. There are rumors that Evercore is pursuing George Young, a star telecom banker who left Lehman Brothers earlier this year. I'm sure the firm is handing out lots of equity. The bank is also betting there's a lot of legs left in the current deal rally. We'll likely see more big announcements.

For more:
- here's the Investment Dealers' Digest article (for FierceFinance readers)