CHICAGO — Chicago-based Loop Capital Markets LLC has opened a public finance office in Little Rock, Ark., the first in a series of new regions it hopes to establish a presence in this year as it extends its reach from major metropolitan areas to smaller urban markets.
The 15-year-old firm hired former Chicago-based public finance banker Pamela Mobley to open the Little Rock office. She joined Loop Capital as a senior vice president.
Mobley most recently worked at Grigsby & Associates Inc. covering the Southeast region.
She previously held positions as a financial adviser at TKG & Associates and was a public finance banker in Chicago at Siebert Brandford Shank & Co. and Samuel A. Ramirez & Co.
“Pam has long, imbedded relationships in the region,” said James Reynolds, Loop’s chief executive officer and co-founder. “She’s an excellent technical banker and she knows how to take care and serve the needs of her clients.”
Mobley is the latest addition to the firm’s team of about 40 public finance bankers, analysts, quantitative specialists, and other support staff. The firm has 15 sales professional that focus on municipals.
Besides its headquarters and its new Arkansas office, the firm has a presence in Baltimore, Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Hartford, Conn., Houston, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, New Orleans, New York, Newark, N.J., Oakland, Calif., Orlando, Fla., Philadelphia, San Antonio, San Francisco, Tampa, Fla., Washington, D.C., and West Palm Beach, Fla.
The firm wants to open offices additional offices in the South and Southeast and is looking for both junior and senior bankers.
“We have the infrastructure in place and so now to have broader market penetration we want to expand beyond the markets with the large and frequent issuers to those with areas with smaller and less frequent urban issuers,” Reynolds said.
The next phase of growth comes after what Reynolds called a disappointing year for the firm, which failed to crack the ranks of the top 10 senior managers nationally.
The firm finished 16th among senior managers nationally last year, the same as in 2010.
It led 16 deals last year valued at $2.9 billion for 1% of market share, compared to 1.1% in 2010, according to Thomson Reuters.
Reynolds, who set the top 10 goal several years ago, has been managing the public finance banking group since the firm parted ways last summer with Alexander Rorke.
Though volume shrunk nationally and many firms have been disappointed with their numbers, Reynolds said it’s not volume that concerns him as much as market share.
“I was not happy with how the group performed last year,” he said. “There is room for improvement across the board and we are pushing our banking team to really focus on the fundamentals of client banking, anticipating issuers’ needs, bringing them fresh ideas, and being there regularly.”
The goal remains to crack the list of top 10 senior managers and jump into the top five co-managers.
The firm ranked seventh among co-managers nationally last year, working on deals totaling $6.1 billion for 2.1 % of market share.
It ranked sixth in 2010 with $11.6 billion for 2.7% of market share.
The bright spot for the firm was at home. Loop took the lead spot among senior managers in Illinois last year, with five issues totaling $1.8 billion. It finished 10th in the Midwest.
Mobley is the latest in a series of bankers with Chicago ties to leave Grigsby since it has come under Illinois regulatory scrutiny.
Two others departed last fall to join Stern Brothers soon after the Illinois secretary of state’s office suspended another former Grigsby banker’s license and accused him and the firm of providing misleading advice to the Illinois Student Assistance Commission on an investment in a bank that later failed.
Grigsby’s owner, Calvin Grigsby, said he is now managing clients in the Chicago area.
