Stifel hires as it plans expansion of fund finance team

Stifel Financial has hired a former City National Bank structured finance banker to lead its West Coast venture capital and private equity fund finance business, and the group says it expects more hires in coming months.

Charlie Smith joins Stifel as managing director in the venture and fund banking group, responsible for West Coast VC and PE funds, primarily in the technology and life sciences sectors. Smith was formerly a senior vice-president in CNB’s structured finance group. Before that, he was a senior vice-president in Wells Fargo’s private bank specialty finance group focused on GP financing.

The hire represents an expansion into California and the West Coast for Stifel’s fund banking group, which was launched in 2018. The group has $2.5 billion in loan commitments and more than $1 billion in deposits, according to a public relations official for the bank. It provides “a wide range” of services, including capital call/subscription lines larger than $100 million, treasury management tools and “high-touch relationship management with a single point of contact.”

Brad Ellis heads up the bank’s venture and fund banking group, based in New York. Ellis gave credit to Raleigh, North Carolina-based director Mike Breaux for building the bank’s fund banking business, saying he’d done a “tremendous job” over the last three years and that Stifel expects to make additional hires and investments in the coming months.