Stifel Financial Corp. announced the launch of an Agency Structured Products Group, which has the mandate to expand the firm's footprint in agency commercial mortgage-backed securities (ACMBS) and further enhance its fixed income origination products and services. Based in New York, the Agency Structured Products Group will be responsible for purchasing and securitizing Ginnie Mae (GNMA) project loans, as well as underwriting loans for government-sponsored enterprises and the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). To lead this new effort, Stifel announced the hiring of former Credit Suisse executives Karen Cady and Russell McKay as Co-Heads of the Agency Structured Products Group. Kavitha Vignarajah and Serif Ustun, also formerly of Credit Suisse, have joined the firm as Managing Director and Director, respectively. Karen Cady joins Stifel after 27 years at Credit Suisse, where she was a Director in the Securitized Products Trading Group. In that role, Cady was part of the Agency Commercial Mortgage-Backed Securities Team, where she was responsible for underwriting and pricing loans and debentures and underwriting, securitizing, and trading the firm's agency multifamily mortgage-backed securities. Cady began her career at DLJ Securities and Smith Barney.Russell McKay joins Stifel from Credit Suisse, where he was Head of the Agency CMBS Trading and Syndicate Desk. At Credit Suisse, he was responsible for trading, structuring, and new-issue syndication of Ginnie Mae, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac ACMBS, as well as SBA and Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) products. Prior to joining Credit Suisse, McKay was a trader on Brean Capital's ACMBS trading desk. He previously worked at Deutsche Bank for 10 years in multiple roles, including private-label and ACMBS trading. Managing Director Kavitha Vignarajah brings to Stifel deep experience covering a variety of asset classes, including government-guaranteed and private-label CMBS, as well as U.S., UK, and European residential mortgages. Prior to joining
Stifel, Vignarajah served as part of the Securitized Products Teams at Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan, and Bear Stearns. Director Serif Ustun began his career in 2002 in the Fixed Income Research Department at Credit Suisse, where he served as an analyst in the Securitized Products Group covering private-label CMBS and collateralized debt obligation (CDO) securities, and then as lead research analyst covering ACMBS from 2011.