Raymond James has scooped up 10 former Citi employees, including six senior bankers, in an expansion effort that establishes a public finance office in Seattle for the firm, creates a dedicated public power practice, grows its West Coast footprint and enhances the firm’s housing finance group.
Decisions by UBS and Citi to exit public finance announced at the tail end of 2023 presented opportunities for other firms to add talent.
Gavin Murrey, an executive vice president and head of public finance at Raymond James, said he began speaking with the people he hired from Citi about moving over in December.
Chris Mukai (pictured left), who was hired as a managing director and to co-head the Western region public finance division, brought his former Citi team to Raymond James. Ben Selberg was a managing director leading Citi’s Public Power, Energy & Renewables public finance practice, and will do the same for Raymond James in Seattle.
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Raymond James’ ongoing commitment to public finance and its willingness to hire the full team appealed to those hired, Murrey said.
“The hires we have made over the last few years showed a commitment to the business,” Murrey said. He noted the firm has 8,000 to 9,000 retail advisors and covers large municipal buyers as well as middle market fixed accounts, and needs product for those accounts.
The bankers also put forth a compelling plan as to what they believe they can do for Raymond James, he said.
The broker-dealer has hired 51 people over the past two years, though with retirements the hiring spree has only added 14 managing directors for a total of 180 public finance employees, Murrey said. The firm’s headcount in public finance has ranged from 165 to 180 over the past few years, he said.
The Citi California team that came over was led by Chris Mukai, who was hired as a managing director and to co-head the Western region public finance division along with Parker Colvin, who has been with Raymond James since 2013.
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“Raymond James is a highly regarded player in public finance with a talented team of professionals and a robust platform to serve the unique needs of the California market and beyond,” Mukai said in a statement. “It’s a real privilege to join Parker to lead the firm’s efforts in the Western U.S. With his partnership, we look to continue the steady growth and positive momentum that have been building here over the past decade.”
Mukai has 33 years of public finance experience and has worked on $485 billion in deals. He joined Citi in 2001 and led its public finance practice in the Western United States for the past 15 years. Prior to joining Citi, Mukai worked in public finance for Merrill Lynch for 10 years.
Other members of Mukai’s team hired by the firm are Victor Andrade in Los Angeles, Brian Olin in Seattle, and Stephen Field in Orange County, California, all of whom were hired as managing directors, and Harley Hoy in Orange County, hired as a vice president.
Ben Selberg, in Seattle, was a managing director leading Citi’s Public Power, Energy & Renewables public finance practice, and will do the same for Raymond James. Bella Meyn, an analyst, also joins the Seattle office.
Selberg, who was at Citi for 19 years, worked on $50 billion in financings while there, according to Raymond James.
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Though the bulk of the hires are on the west coast, the firm also added Susan Jun, a managing director in the National Housing Group in Chicago; Sara Campbell, a Philadelphia associate, and Neha Chowdhury, a New York analyst.
Jun has nearly 30 years of housing banking experience and has worked as senior banker for many of the largest affordable housing issuers in the country. She will help the National Housing Group further broaden and deepen its client base, with a particular focus on state housing finance agencies.
The ability to attract such an outstanding group of bankers is a testament to the tireless work done by the firm’s public finance team “to fuel our growth and advance our strategic vision to be one of the highest regarded public finance platforms in the nation,” Murrey said.
It’s been a remarkable year for Raymond James so far. Massive deals have enabled it to clamber up the rankings year-to-date from 10th top underwriter in 2023 to the fifth spot, underwriting $5.7 billion, according to LSEG data. The largest deals it led this year were Jefferson County, Alabama, which sold $2.2 billion of sewer revenue warrants; the Midland Independent School District, Texas, which brought $861 million; and the Conroe Independent School District, Texas, with $550 million.
It ranked the 10th top underwriter in 2023, rising from 12th in 2022 accounting for $14.9 billion and a market share of 4.1%, This was an increase from the $12.9 billion and 3.6% market share it totaled in 2022, LSEG said.
Mayer Brown is a proud sponsor of Proximo Congress 2026. This senior meeting of the US energy, infrastructure, and digital infrastructure finance community is shaped around the questions credit and investment committees are actually asking in 2026: how asset classes are converging, how risk is being priced in a recalibrated policy and geopolitical environment, and how public and private capital are being structured together to deliver projects at scale.
Mayer Brown has also been recognized for three separate awards which will be presented during the event. These awards include:
Proximo North America Transport Deal of the Year 2025 – SR 400 Peach Partners
Proximo North America Rail Deal of the Year 2025 – Brightline West
Proximo North America LNG Deal of the Year 2025 – Port Arthur LNG 2
If you have ever taken out a mortgage, you’ll know there are a lot of requirements to meet. You may need to put down a certain amount and have a debt-to-income ratio below a certain threshold. You may also run into limits on how much you can borrow or what sources of income the lender will count.
These rules do not apply to all mortgages — just to conforming mortgages, which is what the majority of borrowers take out. However, mortgage lenders are increasingly offering what are known as nonconforming loans, or mortgages that do not “comply with every one of the strict standards put in place after the housing crisis,” said The Wall Street Journal. While “still a small portion,” the “share of mortgages using alternative lending practices” has “doubled in size over the past three years.”
What are nonconforming loans?
A nonconforming mortgage is a “type of home loan that doesn’t meet some or all of the guidelines that make them eligible for purchase by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac,” said Bankrate. These are the government-sponsored entities that “support much of the secondary mortgage market in the U.S.,” meaning they often purchase resold mortgages.
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Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have “federal rules that limit the purchase of loans deemed relatively risk-free,” said Investopedia. Loans that meet these guidelines are conforming loans; loans that do not are nonconforming. To be a conforming loan, a mortgage must fall under a certain loan amount, and the borrower must meet specific criteria when it comes to their credit score, debt-to-income ratio and loan-to-value ratio.
Effectively, any home loan that does not align with these stipulations is considered nonconforming. Examples include jumbo loans, government-backed loans, bridge loans and interest-only loans.
Why do people get them?
There are a wide range of reasons people may opt for a nonconforming mortgage. For one, “you may have no choice but to choose a nonconforming jumbo loan if you want to buy an expensive property,” said Rocket Mortgage. These loans can also provide more flexibility when it comes to the type of property you purchase, your credit score and your down payment amount.
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Nonconforming loans additionally “offer an opportunity for home buyers who might not otherwise qualify for traditional loans because they are self-employed or hold their wealth in assets such as real estate,” said the Journal.
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What are the drawbacks?
For starters, there are fewer lenders offering them “since they pose a higher risk to the bank or mortgage lender,” said Yahoo Finance. That said, availability can vary depending on the specific type, as “some nonconforming loans (like FHA mortgages) are common, while others (like USDA loans) can be harder to find.”
Nonconforming loans also “generally carry a higher interest rate for the borrower,” said the Journal, given the increased risk to the lender. Still, this can vary by loan type. For instance, “FHA, VA and USDA loans usually have lower interest rates,” while “less common nonconforming loans, such as bridge loans, often have higher interest rates,” said Yahoo Finance. There is also the possibility that a nonconforming loan “could have an unusual repayment schedule or other features that make it harder to repay,” said Bankrate.
What U.S. consumers ask of their credit cards has changed. For financially stressed households, it has little to do with rewards.
As more households turn to credit cards to manage liquidity and cover everyday expenses, a new set of practical concerns is driving card behavior: Can the card help avoid a missed payment? Can it make balances easier to track? Can it provide enough visibility into available credit and upcoming obligations to help manage an uncertain month?
Those concerns are beginning to reorder what consumers value most in their credit card relationships.
That evidence is clear in “Winning Top of Wallet: How Credit Card Apps Shape Choice,” a PYMNTS Intelligence and Elan Credit Card report examining how consumers use mobile apps to manage spending, payments and engagement across their credit card portfolios. The report found 30% of consumers primarily use credit cards to build credit or extend purchasing power, while another 22% primarily use cards for cash flow management, together outweighing rewards-based usage.
The divide is more pronounced among financially stressed households. Among consumers living paycheck to paycheck and struggling to pay bills, 40% cited credit dependence as their primary reason for using credit cards. Just 11% pointed to rewards.
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For a growing share of consumers, credit cards are functioning less like discretionary spending products and more like liquidity management tools.
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What Matters Most
That evolution is also changing which app features matter most.
Among cash flow-focused consumers, 31% said scheduling payments or autopay encouraged them to spend more on a card, while 27% cited alerts and reminders. Credit-motivated consumers showed similarly high engagement with tools tied to available credit visibility and payment timing.
Rewards still influence spending behavior, particularly among financially stable households. Half of consumers who prioritize rewards said tracking or redeeming rewards through a mobile app encouraged them to spend more on the card.
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But the report suggests that financial stress changes the hierarchy of engagement. As household budgets tighten, rewards become less central than predictability, visibility and control.
That shift helps explain why mobile apps increasingly influence which cards become top of wallet.
Among credit-dependent consumers, 77% said the quality of a credit card app influences which card they use most often. Credit-dependent consumers also reported the highest app adoption levels, with 77% using their primary card’s app regularly or occasionally.
The competition, in other words, is no longer simply about card acquisition. It is about becoming the card consumers rely on to navigate everyday financial management.
Digital Experience Becomes a Financial Retention Tool
The report also suggests that digital experience increasingly shapes retention risk.
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Nearly 1 in 4 cardholders said a poor app or digital experience contributed to reduced card use. Among Gen Z consumers, that figure climbed to 45%.
At the same time, 7 in 10 cardholders said app quality influences which card becomes their primary card, underscoring how mobile interfaces are becoming embedded directly into consumer payment behavior.
For issuers, the implications extend beyond app design.
Consumers living paycheck to paycheck hold nearly as many credit cards as financially stable households, meaning financially stressed consumers are not disengaging from credit entirely. Instead, they are becoming more selective about which cards feel easiest to manage and most useful during periods of financial pressure.
Rewards and promotional offers still matter, particularly among affluent and financially stable consumers. But for a growing segment of households, the most valuable card may be the one that reduces uncertainty around balances, payment timing and available liquidity.
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In a crowded multi-card market, financial visibility itself is becoming part of the product.
