M.R. Beal & Co. has hired James Cortese as a senior vice president and underwriter in the fixed-income sales and trading department. He reports to Jay Alpert, head of municipal sales, trading, and underwriting activities.
Cortese previously worked at Sterne Agee, where he was managing director of underwriting, trading, and sales. He also managed national and regional underwriting at UBS.
“Jamie is a very significant and strategic hire for us,” said Stan Grayson, Beal’s chairman and chief operating officer. “He is well known and respected in the industry and will play an integral role as we expand and nurture our municipal business activities.”
This is the latest muni hire for M.R. Beal as it seeks to expand its footprint in the industry. Last August, the firm hired Loren Carlson and Edward Chan. Carlson joined the Charleston, S.C. office and is responsible for developing new business and deal execution in the Southeast. Chan came from Loop Capital Markets where he was involved in deal structuring and execution, cash-flow modeling, credit analysis, and innovative solutions for municipal issuers.
The New York-based firm moved up in the rankings last year to 26th place as senior manager, up from 35th in 2009. M.R. Beal was lead underwriter on 25 issues totalling $2.4 billion, up from seven deals totalling $1.3 billion.
