Piper Sandler hires Citi's Ryan Hallam to co-head HY sales, trading

Ryan Hallam, who spent nearly three decades at Citi, has been hired as a managing director and co-head of high-yield trading on Piper Sandler's fixed-income team.

Hallam will handle high-yield muni sales and trading, focusing on large institutional accounts and is based in New York.

"As we look to grow our market share in the municipal industry, Ryan's tremendous experience and strong relationships will enhance our capabilities and make us much more well-rounded," said Jon Allen, head of fixed income trading and risk at Piper Sandler, in a statement. "He will immediately expand our coverage of institutional accounts, which is highly complementary to our public finance efforts."

Piper Sandler's announcement of Hallam's hiring comes a week after Stifel brought on Joseph Narens, who spent a decade at Citi, to oversee the firm's institutional high-yield trading across the firm's municipal securities business line.

The news comes as the market contemplates the loss of Citi's secondary market-making presence, particularly in the high-yield space.

Hallam worked at Citi for 28 years, most recently as a managing director and head of municipal sales, becoming one of the top-producing muni salespeople, according to a press release.

Before that, he was Citi's director of municipal and derivative sales, where he structured derivate products, such as tender option bonds, Municipal Market Data rate locks, LIBOR swaps and Municipal CDs, the release said.

Hallam will report to Allen.

"We look forward to the positive impact Ryan will bring to the fixed income group," said Kyle Javes, head of underwriting and specialty finance at Piper Sandler, in a statement. "His expertise and deep product knowledge will strengthen our municipal team as we continue to build and expand our coverage across municipals."

Piper Sandler and Stifel are only two of the latest firms to bring on former employees from Citi after it decided to shutter its muni division late last year.

Jefferies hired around 10 healthcare bankers before Citi's exit. Following the closure of Citi's muni division, former employees have been hired by BofA Securities, RBC Capital Markets, Morgan Stanley, J.P. Morgan, Raymond James, Barclays, 16Rock Asset Management, Truist Financial Corp., Ramirez & Co., Loop Capital Markets and Huntington National Bank.

Piper Sandler ranks as the 10th top underwriter year-to-date, underwriting $3.574 billion in 68 issues. The largest deals it has led in 2024 include the Minnesota Agricultural and Economic Development Board with $500 million, the Lewisville Independent School District with $460 million and the Prosper Independent School District with $382.8 million.

Piper Sandler ranked 12th in 2023, accounting for $12.348 billion and a market share of 3.4%, This compares to the $13.707 billion and 3.8% market share it totaled in 2022 when it ranked 11th, LSEG said.