BMO Capital Markets Adds Four Bankers and a San Francisco Office

CHICAGO - Chicago-based BMO Capital Markets has added four bankers to its ranks so far this year, boosting its general government and health care capabilities while also extending its reach to the West Coast and into the transportation sector.

Over the last several months, the firm hired veteran governmental and infrastructure banker Neil Pritz, a managing director, and health care banker Chris Cochran, a vice president, to work in its Chicago headquarters.

BMO has established its first public finance banking presence outside the Chicago area in hiring the former Goldman, Sachs & Co. transportation sector banking team of Jeff Holt as managing director and Eric Zampol as vice president in San Francisco.

"We are very excited about the team we have assembled. It's amazing to me to be able to hire this kind of talent," said James Kubik, managing director and head of U.S. public finance banking who started in the municipal business in 1971. All four additions worked for firms that have cut staff recently due to market turmoil and economic pressures.

Transportation and infrastructure is a key focus in Canada for BMO's parent, the Canadian-based BMO Financial Group, and so it makes sense to make a push into that sector domestically, according to Kubik.

"We see tremendous growth opportunities in those areas, especially with the funds available to state and local governments from the federal stimulus," he said.

Kubik believes BMO is well-positioned to capitalize on the infusion of stimulus funds. The firm is one of the top-ranked underwriters of competitively sold taxable issues - a ranking that could serve it well in selling issuers on its distribution capabilities for taxable bonds as they consider issuing under the federal government's new Build America bond program. BMO also can provide liquidity support through its commercial banking arm, Harris Bank.

Holt, 50, is 30-year veteran of public finance banking with his practice focused on the transportation infrastructure sector that includes port authorities and other clients across the country. Before joining Goldman 11 years ago, Holt worked for PaineWebber, First Boston, and Morgan Stanley. Zampol, 29, worked for the last six years on transportation and infrastructure financings with Holt at Goldman.

Pritz previously worked as a managing director in Banc of America Securities LLC's Chicago office covering Midwestern clients. Before joining Banc of America in 2002, Pritz worked for Mesirow Financial Inc. and the former Banc One Capital Markets. Pritz also has clients in the public education and nonprofit sectors.

Cochran, 31, who worked for the last nine years at RBC Capital Markets, will work under Brian McGough, who joined BMO last year to lead its entrance into the health care sector. The two were colleagues previously in the banking group at RBC.

The additions this year bring to six the number of senior bankers employed by BMO, and to 22 the number of professionals working in the public finance banking group out of several Chicago-area offices and San Francisco.

The firm has steadily been adding to its staff since Bank of Montreal's acquisition of Griffin, Kubik, Stephens & Thompson Inc. last spring. The firm set out from the start to expand on its strong bank-qualified, middle-markets business by adding bankers and sales professionals to ratchet up efforts to go after senior managed work.

The firm says it continues to look for opportunities to add bankers in the footprint of BMO, which has a presence in New York City, Boston, Chicago, Atlanta, Houston, Phoenix, and San Francisco. Among senior managers, BMO ranked 23d nationally last year, up from 38th in 2007, according to Thomson Reuters. The firm ranked 12th in the Midwest and eighth in Illinois last year.

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