Siebert Brandford Shank & Co. has hired three managing directors in its municipal sales and trading department, expanding the unit when other firms are cutting back, and bringing the total number of professionals to 18.
The regional firm has hired former Bear, Stearns & Co. senior managing director Stephen Stern, former Lehman Brothers banker Tim Muller, and Nicholas Sotell, who came over from Rafferty Capital Markets.
The new hires build upon the firm's active hiring for the sales and trading desks in recent years, and may help the firm draw added business at a time when some of the market's largest firms have exited the business.
In 2007, Siebert ranked 17th among senior managers, underwriting 26 deals for total volume of $3.6 billion, according to Thomson Reuters. So far this year, the firm ranks 13th among all senior managers, working on 17 deals for total volume of $2.8 billion.
"[We've expanded] to take advantage of the mergers or retrenchment of firms from public finance," said Suzanne Shank, president and chief executive officer at Siebert. "We've been in the top twenty and I'd love for us to move into the top ten. To do that you need to up your game."
The three hires have extensive experience in municipal sales and trading operations. Stern had worked at Bear Stearns since 1984. Prior to that, he was at Lehman. Muller began his career at Merrill Lynch & Co. and had been at Lehman since 1993, where he finished as a senior vice president. And with more than 23 years of experience, Sotell had worked at Lehman and Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette before Rafferty.
