Raymond James goes to Washington

WASHINGTON—Investment banking group Raymond James now has an office here and has added five new bankers to its Security, Defense and Government Services practice.

Alper Cetingok, co-head of the Security, Defense and Government Services practice said Raymond James hired John Haggen, who will also serve as co-head of the security practice and as managing director. Haggen comes to Raymond James from BB&T Capital Markets.

Cetingok said he's known Haggen for 10 years and lauded his expertise in the defense and government services sectors.

While the government sector has been quiet for the past several years, Cetingok said Raymond James expects activity to pick up in certain areas. “We believe cybersecurity, intelligence communications and defense electronics will be the most robust segments coming out of the downturn,” he said.

Cetingok said that the expertise of the current security group at Raymond James lies in physical security and alarm monitoring sectors.

The new hires will work on deals that are “immediately adjacent and in some cases directly correspond to the security business we do,” he said.

He predicted there will be “a lot of opportunity to mutually benefit from each others' experience,” and said the “extension of our capabilities will boost the Security, Defense and Government Services group as a whole.”

Also joining Raymond James are: Sam Maness, who will serve as managing director; VPs Andy McEnroe and Ellis Chaplin; and analyst Stefan Leon.

The group does M&A advisory, capital raising, and collaborates with other Raymond James industry and product groups.