PNC Taps Siebert Banker Coolidge to Boost Midwestern Business

CHICAGO – Pittsburgh-based PNC Capital Markets LLC has hired public finance banker Elizabeth Gallagher Coolidge away from Siebert Brandford Shank & Co. LLC, where she headed the firm’s Chicago office, to bolster PNC’s efforts in key Midwestern states.

PNC also has added to its Chicago office Allison Pink, who worked with Coolidge at Siebert. Coolidge joins the firm as a managing director to lead its municipal banking efforts in Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, and Missouri. Pink joins the firm as a director, providing quantitative and banking support for large issuer clients in those states.

“With the addition of Beth and Allison, we are well-positioned to serve our existing clients and to add new relationships throughout the Midwest,” PNC’s head of public finance Robert Dailey said in a statement. “We are especially pleased to have someone of Beth’s stature and experience as part of our leadership team as PNC expands its public finance capabilities.”

Coolidge spent the last five years at Siebert as a managing director and head of the office she helped establish a decade earlier. Her first stint there ended in 1999 when she decided to make the leap to the former Banc One Capital Markets Inc. which later merged with JPMorgan. She then moved over the former Lehman Brothers. She returned to Siebert in early 2008. Lehman went bankrupt in September 2008.

“We thank Elizabeth Coolidge for her service.  The firm is currently speaking with candidates to head our Chicago office,” Siebert said in a statement. Siebert president Suzanne Shank, who is based in Detroit will manage the Chicago office’s business until the position is filled.

Coolidge was not available to comment on her move. Sources said while Siebert had long been a good fit for Coolidge the PNC job offered an opportunity to tap her experience to help build a business.

One edge for PNC is it can offer a range of credit support products through its commercial bank. The firm last year hired Dailey, who had spent the previous 18 years at JPMorgan, with expansion in mind.

PNC ranks 26th so far this year as a bookrunner and 9th as a co-manager on Midwestern issues, compared to Siebert which was not listed in rankings as a bookrunner so far this year but ranks 12th as a co-manager. PNC finished last year in 22nd place among bookrunners on Midwest debt and 3rd place as a co-manager. Siebert finished last year ranked 19th as a bookrunner and 13th as a co-manager, according to Thomson Reuters.

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