(Second in a two-part capital-markets series.)

Let the pundits talk about bubbles and corrections. Bruce Cohen talks about permanent liquidity, in a statement of faith that current market conditions will not derail. Of course, Cohen, CEO of Chicago-based Wrightwood Capital, can afford to be confident. He's been riding the crest of a year-long wave that began when he spun off Cohen Capital from parent organization Cohen Financial (and brother Jack) in June of 2004, and culminated this June with the name change to Wrightwood. Sandwiched between the two events was Wrightwood's $1 billion in capitalization and positioning to do some $800 million in originations this year. In a recent, exclusive interview, Cohen talks about why he thinks the current, strong investment climate is more than irrational exuberance and lays out his plan to continue the firm's own upward trajectory.

GlobeSt.com: Why the split from Financial?

Cohen: In 1998, we raised $75 million essentially for the expansion of our principal activities. By 2003, we concluded that the opportunity was at hand to expand it vastly. We had built our infrastructure and systems and processes, and we had an enormous track record as well as a universe of clients. The time was right to raise the next round of capital.