RBC Capital Markets said that 25-year market veteran Arthur Chan has joined its New York office to devise financing solutions and provide quantitative analysis for its banking clients.
Chan's specialty is in structuring large, complex debt programs. At RBC he will head the debt solution group within the capital markets' municipal finance department and work alongside the large-issue department and public power group.
“It’s ideas, not just numbers,” Chan said, mentioning that his analysis includes market conditions, tax regulations, and credit ratings. “For every issue, we look at all aspects to come up with the best solutions.”
The addition to staff comes as some firms are struggling amid the lightest issuance in more than a decade, but Chris Hamel, head of municipal finance, said RBC takes a long-term view.
“We view Arthur as a strategic addition to our platform,” he said. “We think it will lead to increased client activity even though overall volume is down.”
Chan is best known for his work at Lehman Brothers, where he spent close to 11 years focusing on public debt strategies and running the analyst training program.
RBC plans to take advantage of that experience by having Chan lead efforts to recruit and train new hires. Chan said he oversees a comprehensive program that introduces participants to municipal products, public finance analyticals, tax laws, and compliance issues.
“Our training has been extensive across the U.S.,” Hamel added. “But what we’re now doing is asking Arthur to pull together those national pieces and centralize them in New York on a department level.”
Chan began work at Lehman in 1998 and continued with the team for four months after it was acquired by Barclays Capital in September 2008.
From July 2009 onwards he was interim head of the public finance department at M.R. Beal & Co., where he managed four offices and coordinated origination and new business efforts.
His career began in 1986 with six years at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter. He then served another six years in JPMorgan’s public finance group, where he was a vice president.
He will report to Jim Tricolli, who leads the group’s operations on the East Coast.
RBC ran the books on 659 issues last year totaling $19.8 billion, ranking it seventh according to Thomson Reuters. It retains the No. 7 spot so far this year, completing 115 issues worth $3.1 billion and reflecting a 5.7% market share. As negotiated manager, it ranks in the top five.
The bank is also fourth-ranked, nationally, as co-manager. It has participated in 43 deals this year worth $1.3 billion.
