DALLAS — Siebert Brandford Shank & Co. has hired the two top managers at Samuel A. Ramirez & Co.’s Houston office as part of expansion plans in the Southwest, according to chairman Napoleon Brandford.
Art Morales, formerly managing director at Ramirez, joins Siebert with the same title, as does Robert Collins, formerly vice president at Ramirez. Both will report to Levi Davis, senior managing director, in the Dallas office.
Brandford said the addition would bolster Oakland, Calif.-based Siebert’s Houston operations, which have grown over the past decade.
“By hiring Art and Robert, we will be able to expand our footprint beyond the golden triangle of Houston, San Antonio, and Dallas,” Brandford said. “We plan to expand our focus to include El Paso and surrounding jurisdictions, the state of New Mexico, and the state of Colorado.”
Davis said the firm could seek business in Colorado from the Houston or West Coast offices.
“We were in Colorado years ago, but we haven’t been out there in six or seven years,” he said.
Collins, a graduate of Rice University, previously worked for Coastal Securities, Bank of America and JPMorgan before joining Ramirez & Co. in 2008.
Morales, who earned an undergraduate degree from the University of Texas El Paso and a graduate degree in accounting from Pepperdine University, was recently appointed to Houston’s Business Development Corp. board of directors. His previous voluntary board appointments have included the Harris County Metro Transit Authority and the Harris County Housing Authority.
