CHICAGO – Chicago-based Cabrera Capital Markets LLC has hired back Brian King, a former Chicago deputy comptroller, to lead a rebuilding and expansion of its public finance business after a fresh infusion of capital.
King rejoined the firm as a managing director. The firm also hired Kathy Thomas, a veteran public finance banker and financial advisor. She is a senior vice president. Both started last month.
King began his public finance banking career in 2006 when he left the city after seven years assisting in city debt management. He moved over to Chicago-based Mesirow Financial Inc. in 2011 in part to aid its efforts in winning senior manager work outside of Illinois.
"Brian's years of banking experience covering not just Chicago but also national accounts" makes him a good fit to lead the firm's national efforts and efforts to win bigger deals with its eye on the genera government and education sectors, said the firm's founder and chief executive officer, Martin Cabrera.
"We agree on where we see opportunities going forward and have a shared vision about the firm's growth," Cabrera said. The firm wants to make greater inroads in the California and Texas markets and is looking to hire two to three bankers, both senior and junior, in each of those markets.
The firm has eight offices: its Chicago headquarters, New York, Boston, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Tampa, Dallas and Houston. The firm lacks any bankers on the ground outside of Chicago as several that had been based in Texas left recently.
The 15-year-old investment bank and institutional brokerage received an infusion of capital that Cabrera says lays the foundation for an expansion of its corporate business and to underwrite larger transactions in both the primary market and to build inventory for its buyside clients in the secondary.
While a private equity investor holds 23% of the firm, Cabrera is the majority owner giving it status as a majority Latino owned company. Cabrera acknowledges that can help open doors in some markets but says it's solid underwriting performance that draws repeat issuer business.
King first joined the city to work in the comptroller's office in 1991 and stayed until 1994 when he took a position at the former Continental Bank in its corporate trust department. He returned to city government in 1997, where he worked for two years in the Chicago Department of Housing before returning to the city's finance department as deputy comptroller.
Thomas most recently worked in banking at Drexel Hamilton LLC covering Midwestern and national issuers. She previously worked as a financial advisor at Springsted Inc. and held positions at Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Primerica Financial Services, and Crowe Horwath LLP. "She brings a unique advantage from serving as a financial advisor," Cabrera said.
Cabrera said his goal is to move up to the top 15 among underwriters counting the firm’s co-manager work. The firm ranked 26th last year nationally among co-managers on $2.7 billion worth of bonds in 114 issues. As a senior manager it ranked 43rd leading six deals valued at $670 million, according to data from Thomson Reuters.
