Stifel Financial Corp. said Oscar Cardenas and Curt Shelmire have joined the Public Finance Group of its broker-dealer subsidiary, Stifel, Nicolaus & Co.
Cardenas will be based in the firm's San Antonio office and Shelmire will be based in Austin, the company said Wednesday.
"We are excited to be able to continue to add to our capabilities to serve issuers in the State of Texas, and fortunate to be adding two professionals of the caliber of Oscar and Curt," said Nora Chavez, managing director and manager of Texas public finance.
Cardenas joins Stifel from the Northside Independent School District, the fourth largest school district in Texas, where he served as deputy superintendent of business and finance. He began his 22-year tenure at Northside as director of finance and was later named chief financial officer. Cardenas was involved in seven bond elections totaling more than $3.1 billion and negotiated the issuance of more than $4 billion in bonds. He developed a debt management plan that included a laddered short-term debt portfolio, which has become an integral part of Northside's long-term master financial plan.
Shelmire brings more than 24 years of public finance experience to the firm and joins Stifel from Bank of America Merrill Lynch. He served as financial advisor to the City of Arlington in its negotiations with the Dallas Cowboys organization on its new football stadium, and lead banker for the University of Texas System in financing the replacement hospital for Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. He also took part in both of the State of Arkansas's tobacco settlement revenue bond issues, Oklahoma City's inaugural tax increment financing district for the public improvements related to Devon Energy's headquarters building, and Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport's 2003 revenue bond issue.
