Raymond James is making a move into Indiana by hiring veteran education public finance bankers Damian Maggos and Matthew Ruess.
Maggos will establish an Indianapolis office while Ruess will open an office in Crown Point, just across the Illinois border southeast of Chicago. The team will focus on the kindergarten through 12th grade and general governmental banking sectors.
Maggos and Ruess were both previously with George K. Baum & Co. Baum's acquisition by Stifel Financial Corp. was
Maggos was an executive vice president and managing director at Baum since 2014 where he focused on the school district bond arena. He brings more than 30 years of experience in general obligation programs, lease financings, utility revenue bonds and economic development bond programs.
Ruess was a vice president at Baum since 2016. He previously served as chief financial officer for the Crown Point Community School Corp. for 10 years. Ruess has 18 years of experience in school district management.
Maggos said his move to Raymond James was unrelated to the acquisition of Baum acquisition and said he found the Raymond James' footprint in Indiana to be very attractive and thought it would help him to best serve his clients. Ruess was not available for comment, a spokesperson for Raymond James said.
“Both Damian and Raymond James have been active in Indiana with state and local agencies since the early 1990’s," said Gavin Murrey, executive vice president and head of public finance/debt investment banking at Raymond James. "With Damian’s and Matt’s extensive experience and with a larger footprint, we can now appropriately cover all issuers and provide an array of financing solutions.”
The firm’s move into the Indiana market is part of its ongoing expansion in the Midwest and mountain states. The firm hired Greg Vahrenberg in Kansas City, Missouri, in January. The firm opened a Denver office in September and added several California offices to its existing footprint there during 2018.
“There have been recent legislative changes that have allowed schools to fund more projects,” Murrey said. “In addition, other factors that will facilitate funding include changes in programming and demographics, security and technology related issues as well as issues with a renewable energy component.”
Murrey said the firm would like to further grow its Indiana municipal presence. “We are continuing to look for talented and experienced bankers to add to the team as appropriate,” he said.
Raymond James employs about 170 public finance professionals working in 35 offices across the country.
The firm is ranked eleventh nationally year to date as a senior manager, credited by Refinitiv with 386 issues valued at $8.03 billion. In the Midwest the firm ranks 13th year to date with 44 issues valued at $696.2 million and in 2018 was ranked 13th with 67 issues valued at $1.06 billion.
