CHICAGO — JPMorgan, ranked second among senior managers last year, is losing about six mid- and senior-level public finance bankers through a mix of departures, retirements, and one job cut, according to industry sources.
Municipal market sources said the impact of the departures on the firm's overall banking operation would be offset by recent additions and expected hires.
Marshall Crawford, a managing director and head of the firm's Denver office, and Lance Etcheverry, a managing director in the Dallas office, are retiring.
The firm cut the position of Eric Rockhold, a managing director and general government banker who led the Chicago region. He joined the firm more than a decade ago after Merrill Lynch & Co. shed its general government banking staff in a 2001 restructuring.
Multiple sources said the position of a New York City-based banker was also cut but other sources said the individual remains with the firm and was possibly being moved into another role.
Three other bankers are resigning to take new positions.
They include Robert Pattison, an executive director based in Albany, N.Y.; Laura Powell, an executive director based in San Antonio; and Ryan Wannemacher, a vice president and utility banker in Dallas.
Several sources said Pattison is joining Morgan Stanley as an executive director. Powell is reportedly joining Wells Fargo Securities and Wannemacher is said to be joining a utility, although the latter two could not be immediately confirmed.
News of the departures began circulating in the industry late last week.
The firm declined to comment on any of the personnel departures or the cut.
They follow announcements of 2014 bonuses, which bankers at a range of Wall Street firms have grumbled over.
Several sources who previously worked at JPMorgan said morale among some in public finance banking, especially mid- to senior-level professionals, has been low and some feel undervalued.
Sources said the firm recently hired one professional, although the hire has not been publicly announced, and in the coming months officials are expected to announce the addition of two senior bankers. The firm declined comment.
The firm's public finance banking head, Jamison Feheley, recently announced the hiring of Kent Lawrence, a former Citi banker, to open a North Carolina office and head up the Southeast. Feheley joined the firm in 2010 after 12 years at Citi.
Among senior managers of negotiated deals, JPMorgan moved up to second on the 2014 league table, credited with leading $26.4 billion of deals, according to Thomson Reuters data.
That gave the firm a 10.8% market share, down from 11.3% in 2013 as firms ranked lower in the top 10 gained market share, according to Thomson Reuters.
JPMorgan ranked second among underwriters of competitive transactions totaling $11.2 billion.
The firm ranked second in the Far West, 5th in the Midwest, 2nd in the Northeast, 2nd in the Southeast, and 1st in the Southwest among senior managers last year, according to Thomson Reuters data.
JPMorgan last spring cut about five professionals, primarily bankers, from its public finance rolls, sources said at the time. The 2014 cuts were made from a staff of 210 that work in the firm's public finance group and represented less than 2% of the overall team, sources said at the time. They were made after a review of its business sectors.
