Peter Delahunt, who helped build Raymond James’ municipal team over 26 years with the firm, has been wooed out of retirement to do the same for StoneX.
The global firm has a large fixed-income team and had made a decision to go big on munis seeing opportunity in the sector at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The StoneX muni team currently includes eight traders, three underwriters, five institutional sales people and no retail.
Delahunt accepted an early retirement package from Raymond James a year ago, and immediately began receiving offers, he said.
StoneX offered the right challenge, and Delahunt found he wasn’t ready to retire yet.
“I thought I had been there and done that, but StoneX said we are in a start-up phase, we need someone with your experience,” Delahunt said. “When I started with Raymond James, they were a sleepy regional bond desk. I helped recruit, hire and create a municipal department that became a successful national presence where they are now one of the top 10 muni firms.”
When people ask Delahunt what he liked most about his career in munis, he says “building a department.”
When StoneX contacted me they said, “We need someone who can help us as we build our department. We are looking to grow it out and we can use your experience.”
So they worked out a deal, and he started Tuesday as managing director of municipal securities.
“Once I finish with FINRA testing and compliance, I will start making calls and see who is interested in building out a winning team,” Delahunt said. “I feel fortunate to join a team filled with enthusiastic teammates, dedicated to building upon their continued success.”
At Raymond James, Delahunt was a senior vice president and the national trading manager in the broker dealer’s New York City office. While there, he oversaw risk management for both the trading and underwriting operations, along with developing marketing programs for the sales force.
“Peter brings an abundance of experience and perspective on municipal bonds that will be instrumental as we continue to build out that aspect of our business,” Anthony Di Ciollo, Co-Head of the Fixed Income Division, said in a statement. “We welcome him to the team and look forward to leveraging his experience in municipal bonds.”
During his time at Raymond James, Delahunt was a quantitative analyst, institutional portfolio manager and national sales manager in the municipal bond trading space. As a senior vice president and the national trading manager in the broker dealer’s New York City office, he oversaw risk management for both the trading and underwriting operations, along with developing marketing programs for the sales force.
Delahunt, who received a joint degree in math and economics from Union College in Schenectady, NY, is a registered securities representative and a municipal securities principal.
The growth at StoneX, especially in the municipal division, calls for people with insight into the sector “that will contribute to our success forward and allow us to continue providing our clients access to a new segment of the market,” said Jim Pietkiewicz, managing director of Municipal Securities.
“Peter fills that need and no doubt will make a fine addition to our team,” Pietkiewicz said.
StoneX Group Inc., a global Fortune-500 company headquartered in New York City and listed on the NASDAQ as SNEX, has over 3,000 employees and more than 35,000 commercial and institutional clients, and more than 340,000 active retail accounts in 40 offices on five continents, according to the company.