M&A pace expected to pick up.

After declines in the number and value of financial services mergers and acquisitions last year, investment bankers expect a pickup in 2003, though nothing dramatic.

Bankers say they expect to see the most M&A activity around banks, thrifts and asset managers.

"People are trying to rationalize their position in the business. It may not be as profitable as it was formerly, so they may want to get out," says H. Bruce McEver, chairman of Berkshire Capital Corp. in New York, which specializes in M&A for asset managers and securities firms.

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