Stern Brothers & Co. Adds Garcia to Grow California Business

LOS ANGELES — St. Louis, Missouri-based Stern Brothers & Co. has added California investment banker Lauro Garcia to grow its business here.

Garcia completed more than $7 billion in tax-exempt and taxable multifamily housing and bond financings during the 19 years he worked at Hutchinson, Shockey, Erley & Co., the company he leaves for Stern Brothers, his new firm said. He worked on $1 billion in financings in 2016, primarily in California.

"Lauro's wealth of experience and industry knowledge make him a key addition to the Stern Brothers family," said Peggy Finn, chairman and chief executive officer of Stern Brothers. "Adding this highly experienced banker demonstrates Stern Brothers commitment to growing our presence in the State of California and across the country. I know Lauro will play a key role in providing high quality solutions for our clients."

Founded in 1917, Stern Brothers & Co. is an independent, certified, wholly woman-owned investment bank whose sole focus is public and infrastructure finance. The firm has offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Cleveland, Denver, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, New York, New Jersey and St. Louis.

Garcia, who will work out of the firm's L.A. office, developed several innovative private credit enhancement programs for new multifamily construction and rehabilitation projects while at Shockey, the firm said.

Garcia's experience in tax-exempt finance includes revenue bonds, tax-allocation bonds, assessment district bonds, general obligation bonds, single and multifamily mortgage revenue bonds, variable rate bonds, certificates of participation, tax increment financings, Mello-Roos bonds, limited partnership offerings and refundings. His projects have included buildings, highways, single and multifamily housing, water and waste water facilities, hospitals, health care facilities and shopping centers.

Garcia served as a senior vice president at Hutchinson, Shockey, Erley & Co. Prior that, he was a principal in his own firm, Bancroft, Garcia & Lavell, from 1986 to 1993 and a director in public finance for Merrill Lynch from 1993 to 1996. In 1986, he formed BG&L with two partners in Los Angeles, California and helped develop the corporation into the largest and most successful Hispanic-owned investment banking firm in the western United States, according to the firm.

He is a member of the State Bar of Arizona. He earned a graduate degree from Arizona State University, College of Law in 1982 and a bachelor's degree in sociology in 1979 from the same university. He is a founding member of the "Hispanic Business" Scholarship Fund.

 

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