J.P. Morgan plans to beef up its muni team, hiring three former Citi employees with plans to bring on three more in the coming weeks.
The bank has also hired some analysts for its infrastructure group over the past several weeks.
The latest hires from Citi are Andrew Hildreth as executive director in the infrastructure group, Mark Weinberg as executive director in the Southeast region and Frank Leto as vice president in J.P. Morgan's new Tampa office, according to a memo viewed by The Bond Buyer.
The analysts hired are Emma Castro from Piper Sandler, Jake Rich from PNC and Emmett Morrissy and Andrew Rozenweig, both from UBS, the memo noted.
"J.P. Morgan continues to invest in Public Finance across all facets of the business and we are excited to add these talented individuals to our banking team," said Jamison Feheley, managing director and head of public finance banking, in a statement.
J.P. Morgan's hiring coincides with other market players recruiting former Citi employees. Before Citi's exit from muni market, Jefferies hired around 10 healthcare bankers. Since Citi shuttered its muni division, ex-Citi workers have been hired by Morgan Stanley, Barclays, 16Rock Asset Management, Truist Financial Corp, and Ramirez & Co.
J.P. Morgan's hires show its commitment to the muni market as the additions, specially those from Citi, bring a breadth of experience and knowledge.
Hildreth has nearly 18 years of experience, spending his first 15 years at BofA Securities before moving to Citi, according to his LinkedIn page.
At J.P. Morgan, he will expand its nationwide coverage of public power clients, along with select regional coverage in the Southeast region. He will be based in Charlotte and report to Mike Carlson, the memo said.
Weinberg previously led the Southeast for Citi and has over 22 years of industry expertise. He has strong and longstanding client ties throughout Florida, which will significantly improve J.P. Morgan's coverage efforts in the state and Southeast, the memo stated.
Leto will expand the firm's reach across Florida and the Southeast and in his 13 years of banking in the Southeast, he has built client relationships across multiple sectors, according to the memo.
Both Weinberg, based in Orlando, and Leto, based in Tampa, will report to Kent Lawrence.
J.P. Morgan ranks second among underwriters through the end of February, underwriting $6.267 billion. The largest deals it led this year include the New York State Thruway Authority with $1 billion of general revenue bonds, JEA with $504 million of water and sewer system revenue bonds and the Massachusetts Development Finance Agency with $437 million of Children's Hospital Issue revenue bonds.
BofA Securities is the top underwriter so far in 2024 with $10.341 billion, according to data provided by LSEG.
Morgan Stanley was in the top five underwriters for 2023. The firm fell to fifth last year from second in 2022, accounting for $25.874 billion and a market share of 7.1%, This was a decrease from the $38.23 billion and 10.6% market share it totaled in 2022, LSEG said.
