Preston Hollow Capital (PHC), an independent specialty finance company, has hired municipal finance industry professionals Curtis Erickson, Peter Bianchini and Richard Akulich to form PHC’s Capital Markets Group.
“This is an exciting milestone in establishing Preston Hollow Capital as a leading solution provider in municipal finance,” says Jim Thompson (pictured), PHC’s Chairman and CEO. “Curtis is one of the most respected professionals in the municipal capital markets, and he brings an accomplished and well-known team in Peter and Richard. When coupled with PHC’s recent increase in its permanent equity capital to USD625 million, our new Capital Markets Group will enable us to provide more efficient pricing and execution for the benefit of borrowers. This established Capital Markets team, joining forces with our Origination, Credit, Structuring and Legal teams, equips us to provide an increasingly comprehensive range of financing solutions in the municipal finance marketplace.”
“Preston Hollow Capital has an impressive track record of providing innovative solutions to complex financial transactions and we are looking forward to adding our credit expertise to the company’s efforts,” says Erickson, who will join PHC as Managing Director and Head of Capital Markets. “The municipal market is a diverse and often idiosyncratic marketplace where PHC’s experience, ability to execute in timely manner and the availability of long-term committed capital can be a tremendous advantage.”
Erickson, as Head of Capital Markets, will be responsible for all capital markets and secondary trading activity for the firm. Before joining PHC he was a senior managing director at Mesirow Financial, where he headed up the High Yield Municipal Trading and Credit group. Throughout his career Curtis has also served in senior roles at JPMorgan Chase and Bear Stearns. Erickson has over 20 years’ experience in trading and investing in complex credit structures and distressed municipal debt. He earned a BA from the University of New Hampshire. He holds FINRA Series 7, 53 and 63 licenses.
Bianchini, an Executive Director in PHC’s Capital Markets Group, is a senior municipal strategist and will oversee credit research support for the firm. Before joining PHC, Bianchini served as a managing director at Mesirow Financial and, prior to that, as head of west coast Origination at XL Capital Assurance and as a vice president at Charles Schwab where he was responsible for research and analytical support for municipal funds totaling approximately USD21 billion under management. Before joining Charles Schwab, Bianchini served as a Director for Standard & Poor’s for 14 years in its New York and San Francisco office, including leading the Public Finance Infrastructure team. He is a member of the Society of Municipal Analysts and past chair for the National Federation of Municipal Analysts. Bianchini has received multiple-year recognition on the Smith’s Research & Rating Review All-Star team. Bianchini earned a BS and an MBA from New York University.
Akulich, a Director in PHC’s Capital Markets Group, will be responsible for credit research support for the firm. Richard has done extensive research on various distressed municipal governments, is well known in the tobacco securitisation sector, and has been a featured speaker in several Standard & Poor’s US Structured Credit Roundtables. Before joining PHC, Akulich served as a managing director at Mesirow Financial and, before that, spent five years at JPMorgan Chase in the Institutional Sales & Trading and Alternative Asset Management groups. Akulich has received two Smith’s Research & Rating Review All-Star awards. He earned a BS from Carnegie Mellon University and a JD from Brooklyn Law School. He holds FINRA Series 24, 53, 7 and 63 licenses.
