Every investment banker is another conquistador lusting after fabled riches in distant lands. Let a sufficiently convincing prophet descend from the clouds and secular Wall Street becomes a community of faith until the victims far outnumber the predators. Then the outbreak subsides, leaving survivors older and sometimes wiser. Well, the broker made money and the firm made money - and two out of three ain't bad. We may not know when we're well off, but investment salesmen get on to it somehow.
Banks are basically glorified brokers.