HJ Sims Expands Investment Banking and Education Finance Team with Introduction of New Members

FAIRFIELD, Conn., Aug. 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- HJ Sims (Sims), a privately held investment bank and wealth management firm founded in 1935, is pleased to announce the addition of four investment bankers, expanding its education finance team, which provides comprehensive capital planning, structure and execution for charter schools, public and private education systems and institutions.

Kaiti Wang joins Sims as Vice President in Education Finance providing charter school financing expertise and experience in credit analysis. Kaiti earned her bachelor's degree at the University of California, Berkeley, later working with S&P Global Ratings where she developed her public finance rating analysis experience. She served as Loan Officer with the Local Initiatives Support Corporation and as Program Officer on the Spark Opportunity Grant Program to gain more direct involvement with helping charter schools meet their financial and facility goals.

Kyle Ficker joins Sims as Senior Associate, supporting the investment banking teams dedicated to Senior Living and Education Finance. Kyle attended the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, where he earned his degree in Economics. Having previously worked with Truist Securities, Kyle brings public finance expertise through skilled analysis of the many requirements to execute tax-exempt and taxable debt financings and fulfill capital planning engagements.

Shannon Falon joins Sims as Vice President further developing the Education Finance practice. She earned a degree in Public Policy from the University of Southern California and a Masters of Business Administration from the University of Florida Business School. Recruited by Teach for America to educate high school students in mathematics, she later entered commercial banking before moving to the Equitable Facilities Fund where she helped the non-profit lender make facilities loans to dozens of charter schools. To date, Shannon has closed over $200 million in charter school loans, which help serve over 6,000 students a year.

Seth Wagner joins Sims as Senior Vice President on the investment banking team leading financings for the Senior Living and Education Finance practices. Seth graduated from Hampden Sydney College in Virginia with a degree in Economics and Business. Thereafter, Seth pursued a career in finance where he spent more than seven years with BB&T Capital Markets (now Truist Securities) in various progressive analyst, banking and leadership roles. To date, Seth has served in a leadership role on over 30 financing projects totaling more than $2 billion in financings.

"We welcome Kaiti, Kyle, Shannon, and Seth to the HJ Sims family, and look forward to growing our presence in education finance as we continue to expand our investment banking services with the collective industry knowledge and financing expertise that our new members bring. We also wish to support them as they strive to accomplish their goals," said Rich Harmon, Executive Managing Director and Head of the Education Finance Team at Sims.

Financed Right^®: Aaron Rulnick: 301.424.9135 | [email protected], Jeffrey Sands: 203-418-9002 | [email protected], Richard Harmon: 614.506.1976 | [email protected]

ABOUT HJ SIMS: Founded in 1935, HJ Sims is a privately held investment bank and wealth management firm. Headquartered in Fairfield, CT, Sims has nationwide investment banking, private wealth management and trading locations. Member FINRA, SIPC. Testimonials may not be representative of another client's experience. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.  Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter,  Instagram.

CONTACT: Rebecca Brady, Director of Marketing & Brand | 203-418-9077 | [email protected] 

SOURCE HJ Sims