Houston-based Masterson Advisors LLC has snapped up former Hilltop Securities advisory professional Steven Kantor along with his longtime colleague Kayla MacEwen.
Kantor, a regional managing director for Hilltop based in New York City until the
The three-year old firm was founded by Drew Masterson following his split with Hilltop, and includes many Hilltop veterans.
MacEwen, who was a director based in Boston, was not among those cut but has worked closely with Kantor over her 13 years at the firm and made the leap to Masterson along with Kantor. She is a director.
“Together, they have represented and served clients nationwide, with experience on transactions in numerous sectors including state and local governments, transportation, utility, housing, higher education, student loans, as well as unconventional transactions such as stadium and pension bond financings,” the firm said in a statement announcing the hires.
Kantor and MacEwan were colleagues of their new firm's founder at First Southwest, and remained with the firm after it became known as Hilltop when First Southwest Co. and Southwest Securities began officially operating as one company under the ownership of Hilltop Holdings Inc. in 2016.
In joining Masterson, Kantor and MacEwen are reuniting with many
Drew Masterson, who had developed a specialty in charter schools in Texas left Hilltop in 2017 when it dropped charter school work in favor of traditional school districts, and he launched the new firm in March 2018.
Sources who declined to be named said after Hilltop cut Kantor several firms reached out to him but believed Masterson was the best fit given his connections to Masterson’s professionals, its position as an independent financial advisory firm, and the opportunity presented to expand the firm’s reach.
For Masterson, the additions expand its base deep into the Northeast; they are opportunistic in nature and not part of a growth strategy.
“It’s really great for us to have clients from other parts of the country giving us a different perspective and experiences to help us do a better job representing our existing clients and some of our people who represent large clients will be able to work together with Steve and Kayla to grow everyone’s book of business,” Masterson said.
“We feel like Kayla is going to be fantastic over the long-term” as a public finance leader among women and Steve brings to the table “tremendous experience and wisdom,” Masterson said. “It’s a home run for us.”
The firm now employs 25 professionals with an average experience of 17 years. A majority were prior Hilltop advisors. The firm is employee-owned and qualifies as a majority women-owned firm at 54%. It serves as adviser to at least 370 special districts, cities, transportation borrowers, charter schools and higher education institutions.
The additions expand the firm’s on-the-ground presence beyond its Houston and Dallas offices. It opened an Orlando, Florida, branch office in 2018 by hiring Ed Stull away from Hilltop but Stull died in 2019 after suffering a heart attack.
At Hilltop, Kantor managed more than a dozen professionals in the East and is a 40-year veteran of public finance advisory and issuer positions. Kantor’s experience includes being an assistant to the Philadelphia director of finance and treasurer for the Municipal Assistance Corporation of New York City. He later launched his own firm — Arimax Financial Advisors — which was acquired by First Southwest Co. in 2004.
Drew Masterson’s relationship with First Southwest dates to 1996 when his firm was acquired.
MacEwen joined First Southwest in 2007 working with clients across most sectors after graduating from the University of Rhode Island, College of Business.
Hilltop cut Kantor and at least four others from its advisory group last month. The firm said it remains in growth mode but some sources believe the cuts and the firm’s recent hirers suggest a greater focus on the more lucrative banking business. Masterson declined to say if he was talking to any others cut by Hilltop about joining the firm.
Masterson ranked 27th last year among financial advisors credited working on 211 deals valued at $3.1 billion, according to Refinitiv. In 2019, the firm ranked 29th with $2.447 billion in 208 issues, up from its 2018 ranking of 39th with $1.042 in 87 issues. Hilltop ranked third last year nationally.
In Texas, Masterson ranked second as an advisor in the number of transactions behind Hilltop and fifth based on the par amount of deals with Hilltop taking the top seat, according to Bloomberg data on Masterson’s site.
— Chip Barnett contributed to this story
