Stifel launched a new life science and healthcare venture banking practice entirely made up of ex-Silicon Valley Bank employees, including three vice presidents and six senior bankers, the bank said Tuesday.
Senior bankers Jackie Spencer, Anthony Flores, Milo Bissin, Julie Ebert, Timothy Lew and Sam Subilia have all been named managing directors at Stifel.
Also joining Stifel are Vice Presidents Tessa Dibble and Lindsey Seidner, Senior Vice President Ariana DaCruz and four junior bankers.
The expansion adds to Stifel’s venture and fund banking arm, which launched in 2019.
Stifel’s venture banking business was previously expanded by a group of SVB bankers who jumped ship to Stifel weeks after the regional banking crisis took down SVB in March 2023. SVB remained in operation under the same moniker when First Citizens Bank bought nearly all of its assets from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
The road to Stifel “was paved for us by them,” said Flores, who left SVB after 14 years, in an interview with Banking Dive.
“Stifel as an organization was bought into the innovation ecosystem and really in growth mode, and the more I talked to people on market, it seemed like they were the player who was really excited to go after supporting these clients and growing the bank in that way,” he said.
Stifel’s investment bank was important from a life science perspective, Flores said, because “that is an exit, but it's also a fundraising mechanism for our clients.”
“Being able to deliver that as part of the offering, in addition to also commercial banking services and venture debt, was an important component for us to feel differentiated,” he said.
Stifel has more than doubled venture client deposits in the past year, the bank said, and has more than $10 billion in loan commitments.
Flores’ goal for the life science and healthcare practice is not just to deliver the services the bank has to offer but to be a “connector and a supporter” to clients, he said.
“[We want to] provide value to the broader life science and healthcare space. Everybody gets sick,” he said. “It's an aging population. Our clients are doing crazy, fun, innovative things, and for us to be able to be a small part of that – we're not PhDs, but we get to provide a lot of hopeful value to help these clients be successful.”
Flores is one of several joining Stifel who spent upward of a decade at their previous employer. Spencer and Bissin each spent 18 years at SVB, according to their LinkedIn profiles.
As for his former employer, Flores said even with the loss of his team, SVB under First Citizens “is going to be a force in the market no matter what.”
“They have an established client base and plenty of employees to help coalesce around the ecosystem,” he said.
