DALLAS — Estrada Hinojosa & Co. announced yesterday that longtime Texas banker Ross Moring has joined the firm, bringing to three the number of new hires since Jan. 1 for the Dallas-based broker-dealer.
Noe Hinojosa, the firm’s vice chairman and manager of its public finance operations, said that the firm hopes to continue building its business and believes that all three of the new hires will benefit its clients. The firm ranked as the number three financial adviser in the Southwest in 2005, according to Thomson Financial, and as the number 20 senior manager in the region.
In addition, the firm will serve as the lead manager in the next few weeks for a planned deal by the Dallas Independent School District that will be worth nearly $300 million.
“We’ve worked for the district almost as long as the firm has been around,” Hinojosa said. “This will be the first time, though, that we will be the lead manager.”
He said that it’s that type of work that he believes Moring will help build at the firm.
“He’s been in the business since 1973,” Hinojosa said. “His years of experience and his knowledge of the Texas market will be invaluable.”
Moring most recently worked as a trader and banker at Hibernia Bank. However, in September, that bank opted to get out of trading, and Moring has been looking for a firm that proved a good fit for his talents, Hinojosa said.
Prior to his stint at Hibernia, Moring worked at Legg Mason Inc. for nearly four years after a five-year post at J.P. Morgan Securities Inc. He has also worked during his career at Southwest Securities Inc., Banc One Capital Markets, and Mercantile Bank.
Moring served as the chairman of the Municipal Advisory Council of Texas in 1990-91. He joins the Dallas office of Estrada Hinojosa as an executive vice president.
The firm also recently hired Texas banker Karen Werness and California banker Hector Reyes-Erazo. Both bankers started at Estrada Hinojosa last month.
Werness most recently worked at Banc One Capital Markets, a post she held until December 2003. At that time, she took a brief hiatus from the business, working as a consultant but mostly, said Hinojosa.
Prior to joining Banc One, Werness had worked for E.F. Hutton & Co., Lehman Brothers, and A.G. Edward & Sons Inc.
He said that Werness will be a boon for the firm’s Houston office.
“When she decided that she wanted to get back into the business, she looked at our Houston office and said she liked what we are doing there,” Hinojosa said. “We looked at bringing Karen in as a great opportunity to continue building on the great service we give our clients.”
Werness joined the firm as a senior adviser, and will focus on underwriting and financial advisory services.
Reyes-Erazo has been tapped as a vice president for the firm’s San Diego office. Most recently, Reyes-Erazo worked as a bond salesman at Stone & Youngberg LLC in California. He also has worked for First Southwest Co. in that firm’s Dallas and San Francisco offices, Hinojosa said, before moving on to a stint as a corporate financial adviser.
“We believe that Hector will be a great benefit to our California operations, which are already very strong, thanks to the work of Ruben [Mendoza],” Hinojosa said. “I think that Hector will complement the already fine work being done there.”
