Title: Director
Firm: Stifel
Age: 31
Claude Lockhart Jr. lines his desk with "souvenirs" from bond projects he's worked on.
Letters and thank you notes, gifts and plaques from cities that were grateful for his help in raising funds. The collection's main attraction: a belt buckle from a small fire district in Arizona.
Claude spent nine months working to help the Arizona Fire and Medical Authority with its first-ever bond issuance. When the transaction was finally completed, the fire chief awarded him the belt buckle, a hat and some other gifts for his service.
This is Claude's only ceremonial belt buckle, but there are plenty of stories like that in his career. He forms strong relationships through his care for communities and dedication to solving complex problems.
Stifel sends Claude to work with issuers around the country, Stifel Managing Director Omar Daghestani wrote in Claude's Rising Stars nomination: "In Michigan, Wisconsin, Arizona and otherwise, I regularly hear people ask if Claude is originally from that geography. High praise and a bit funny in that Claude is a native of Shreveport, Louisiana!"
Claude suspects he leaves such a good impression because he takes his job so seriously. He tries to treat a $5 million deal the same way he treats a $500 million deal.
The issuances Claude finds most memorable are the ones where he solved a complicated funding problem or interacted with the community he was serving.
Claude worked on a number of pension funds in Arizona, where he sometimes had to testify at city council meetings for transactions as low as $3 million. He called the experience "eye-opening."
"You'd have members of the community really coming out and talking to you," Claude said. "Having a chance to talk directly about what we're doing and why we're doing it, it's reinforcing, in a way."
Interacting with new issuers, community members and coworkers is Claude's favorite part of his job; he's become involved with Stifel's training and internship programs to expand his reach even further.
