Piper Jaffray Opens Equity Sales and Trading Office in Boston

BOSTON, Aug. 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Piper Jaffray & Co. announced the opening of its equity sales and trading office in Boston. The office is located in the heart of the financial district at One Post Office Square, Suite 3630.

"Boston is an important market in our business," said Tom Schnettler, head of Corporate and Institutional Services at Piper Jaffray. "Although we have had many significant institutional relationships in this market for many years, we believe we can better serve these clients with local resources. The Boston office also provides us with access to some very talented and experienced sales and trading professionals who have now joined our team."

Piper Jaffray is pleased to announce the hiring of Rob Reilly as a managing director, senior sales trader and manager of the new Boston office. Reilly brings significant experience in the sales trading industry having spent the past seven years with Prudential Equity Group and five years prior to that with Fidelity Capital Markets. He received his bachelor's degree from Providence College and his master's of business administration degree from the Babson Graduate School of Business.

Joining Reilly in sales trading are Marc Beran and Scott Spottiswoode. Beran joins Piper Jaffray as a sales trader. Beran previously worked at Fidelity Capital Markets for five years and Fidelity Management and Research for seven years. He has a bachelor's degree from Boston College. Spottiswoode joins Piper Jaffray from Susquehanna Financial Group where he spent the past three years in sales trading. Prior to that, he worked in sales trading at Deutsche Bank. Spottiswoode has a bachelor's degree from Babson College.

In addition, Neil Higgins joins Piper Jaffray as a managing director and manager of the institutional equity sales team in Boston. Higgins joins the firm from Banc of America Securities, where he spent the past five years in institutional sales covering the Boston market. Prior to his joining Banc of America Securities, Higgins practiced corporate law at several Boston law firms. He has a bachelor's degree from Notre Dame and a law degree from the University of Virginia.

Bill Durkin joins Piper Jaffray as a senior salesperson. Durkin spent two and a half years at Soundview/Schwab in Boston and prior to that, he worked at S.G. Cowen for nearly six years on the sales team. Durkin has a bachelor's degree from the University of Massachusetts and a master's of business administration degree from Northeastern. Assisting Higgins and Durkin on the sales team is Gina Lopez, who previously worked on the international equities team at J.P. Morgan in Boston.

Piper Jaffray & Co. is the chief operating subsidiary of Piper Jaffray Companies , a focused securities firm dedicated to delivering superior financial advice, investment products and transaction execution within selected sectors of the financial services marketplace. The company operates through two primary revenue-generating segments: Capital Markets and Private Client Services. Piper Jaffray & Co. has served corporations, government and non-profit entities, institutional investors and the financial advisory needs of private individuals since 1895. Headquartered in Minneapolis, Piper Jaffray has approximately 3,000 employees in 104 offices in 23 states across the country and in London. For more information about Piper Jaffray, visit us online at http://www.piperjaffray.com/ .

Since 1895. Member SIPC and NYSE.