New York, NY - 
(NewMediaWire) - August 10, 2021 - EF Hutton announced today the appointments of Laura Hickman and Chris Barkauskas as Co-Heads of Family Office and Managing Directors, Institutional Sales.
Laura Hickman, Co-Head of Family Office and Managing Director, Institutional Sales, joins EF Hutton from JMP Securities where she served as Managing Director of Institutional Sales and the Co-Director of the Family Office Group. Mrs. Hickman’s highly successful career has been rooted in founding, fostering, and cultivating client relationships ranging from large institutional investors to private family capital. She has vast product knowledge across multiple sectors as well as public and private capital raise transaction experience. In addition to co-founding the Family Office Group at JMP Securities with Chris Barkauskas, Mrs. Hickman has over 14 years of Wall Street experience. Mrs. Hickman is a graduate of Boston College and holds a Bachelor of Science from the Carroll School of Management.
Chris Barkauskas, who co-founded with Laura Hickman the Family Office Group of JMP Securities, brings over 25 years of Wall Street experience to EF Hutton, where he will serve as Co-Head of Family Office and Managing Director, Institutional Sales. With over two decades of transaction experience at bulge bracket and boutique firms including Bank of America and Cowen & Company, combined with his market intelligence, Mr. Barkauskas serves as a trusted resource and advisor for an extensive roster of clients. His clients include many of the largest and most sophisticated US and global investors. Mr. Barkauskas is a graduate of Franklin & Marshall College and holds a Bachelor of Arts. Additionally, he attended The London School of Economics, and Univerzita Karlova in Prague, Czech Republic.
“We welcome Laura and Chris to direct our Family Office division at EF Hutton. With the extraordinary growth of family offices over the past two decades, sophisticated investors demand exemplary market intelligence, investment agility, top-tier personal service and only the best for wealth growth, management, and asset protection. With Laura and Chris, we hired highly experienced bankers who will take our Family Office Team to new levels of success,” stated Joseph T. Rallo, Chief Executive Officer of EF Hutton.
EF Hutton President, David W. Boral, stated, “EF Hutton’s management determined that our Family Office offerings would be a critical component our investment bank’s strategic growth plan. We are excited to have Wall Street veterans Laura Hickman and Chris Barkauskas overseeing and expanding our Family Office division.”
Laura Hickman commented, “I am thrilled to join EF Hutton. The unique division Chris and I have built and what we bring to the Family Office community is rooted in a new and thoughtful approach on Wall Street. Our mission is to be a trusted, creative partner delivering differentiated value to our family offices and their investment process. We look forward to building out EF Hutton’s Family Office division and creating an extended group that would make the legacy of EF Hutton proud.”
Chris Barkauskas said, “I am extremely excited to join the team at EF Hutton. When I began my career on Wall Street, there were close to twice as many listed companies trading on the exchanges as there are today. A combination of regulatory burden, greater expense, robust private markets, and significantly, a lack of investment bank focus on smaller companies have created meaningful roadblocks for emerging growth companies to access the capital markets. The team at EF Hutton has a mission to uncover and provide capital to the great companies of tomorrow, throughout their private to public journey, and to provide the opportunity for our client partners to access these companies across their life cycle with the goal of generating significant long-term returns.”
EF Hutton continues its trajectory of aggressive growth in 2021, having raised over $3B in capital year-to-date. As one of the most active investment banks in the middle market space, EF Hutton looks to expand its global footprint and build upon recent success.
About EF Hutton
EF Hutton (formerly Kingswood Capital Markets), division of Benchmark Investments, LLC is a global, full-service investment bank headquartered in New York, New York. EF Hutton is a division of Benchmark Investments, LLC, a subsidiary of Kingswood US, LLC, an indirect subsidiary of Kingswood Holdings Limited (AIM: KWG). The synergies and direct access to Kingswood Holdings Limited provide EF Hutton with a unique global presence and broad platform outreach to ensure success for its clients.
About Kingswood Holdings Limited
Kingswood Holdings Limited (trading as Kingswood) is an AIM-listed (AIM: KWG) international, fully integrated wealth management firm with approximately 18,000 active clients and approximately $8.7 billion of assets under advice and management. Securities are offered through Benchmark Investments, LLC, Member FINRA/SIPC.
Contact
Joseph T. Rallo
Chief Executive Officer
590 Madison Avenue, 39th Floor
New York, NY 10022
info@efhuttongroup.com
Website
