Hilltop Securities, one of the nation’s top financial advisory and investment banking firms, has brought four managing directors on board in Houston and Connecticut through the purchase of two small firms.
Yava Scott and Carmen Best, co-founders of YaCari Consultants, joined Hilltop’s Houston office.
Mark Chapman and Bill Lindsay, co-owners of Independent Bond and Investment Consultants in Connecticut, will work at Hilltop’s Madison, Connecticut, office.
“We are pleased to welcome Mark and Bill to our public finance office in Connecticut,” said David Medanich, vice chairman and head of public finance. “We are fortunate to find two individuals with this kind of experience serving Connecticut’s local governments.”
Chapman and Lindsay will work with Connecticut-based director Adam Krea and vice president Susan Caron, and report to regional managing director Steve Kantor.
In Houston, Scott and Best will advise issuers across the country with both traditional and non-traditional/alternative delivery municipal advisory services.
“This is just another step to strengthen our position in Houston and the surrounding area,” Medanich said. Hilltop’s Houston office has seen its ranks thin in recent years with departures for other firms. But the Dallas-based firm has continued to expand the office.
YaCari Consultants, a wholly woman-owned registered municipal advisory firm, advised a wide range of Texas issuers on the planning and execution of new money, refunding, and remarketing transactions, Hilltop said.
Before co-founding YaCari, Scott and Best worked together as investment bankers for more than seven years in the Houston office of Siebert Cisneros Shank & Co.
“Hilltop Securities was a natural choice for us. They’re a municipals-focused firm with the capital and resources that enable us to provide a higher level of service to our clients,” said Scott.
“Hilltop Securities has a strong reputation among Houston-area bankers and issuers,” said Best.
In Connecticut, Chapman and Lindsay worked to provide the state’s issuers with personalized service. Together, they served as municipal advisors to 40 municipalities and school districts throughout Connecticut.
“Hilltop Securities has the resources of a national firm and the approach of regional practice,” said Chapman. “They place a premium on local knowledge and their model is a natural progression from IBIC.”
Chapman has more than 17 years of experience in public finance and is proficient in developing official statements, financing plans, tax and mill rate-impact studies, credit analyses, and rating strategies and presentations for Connecticut municipalities and school districts. Lindsay brings more than 18 years of experience in public finance to his role, the firm said.
