Stifel Financial Corp. announced three senior hires in its Consumer Investment Banking Group. Robert Haile, Joseph Sparacino, and KC Hazarika have joined Stifel as Managing Directors based in Boston. The hiring of this team extends Stifel’s already formidable consumer franchise into the food, agribusiness, and automotive aftermarket sectors. Mr. Haile joins Stifel from BB&T Capital Markets, where he was a Managing Director, leading the firm’s Food & Agribusiness Group. He has more than 20 years of relevant experience and is a specialist in mergers, acquisitions, and financings in the global consumer sector, having executed more than 100 transactions valued at $70 billion. Previously, Mr. Haile was a Managing Director at boutique advisory firm TCI, where he co-headed the firm’s M&A platform. His prior experience includes work as a Senior Vice President at EG Capital Group, a private equity fund focused on buyouts of middle-market companies in the consumer and media sectors. Mr. Haile began his career at J.P. Morgan in the firm’s Global M&A Group. Mr. Sparacino brings to Stifel nearly 20 years of investment banking and corporate finance experience, advising private companies, public entities, and financial sponsors and their portfolio companies across the consumer sector. Prior to joining Stifel, Mr. Sparacino was a Managing Director at BB&T Capital Markets, leading the Automotive Aftermarket Investment Banking Group.