Baird announced on Thursday it has added two equity research teams and launched coverage of energy master limited partnerships, continuing the energy-sector expansion across its capital markets platform.
The new Baird research professionals include Ethan Bellamy, director, senior research analyst; Hsulin Peng, vice president, senior research analyst; Kathleen Morris, research analyst; and John Ragozzino, senior research associate.
Bellamy recently initiated coverage on seven MLPs and closed-end funds, including Energy Income and Growth Fund; Fiduciary/Claymore MLP Opportunity Fund; Kayne Anderson MLP Investment Co.; Cushing MLP Total Return Fund; Tortoise Energy Capital Corp.; Tortoise Energy Infrastructure Corp.; and Tortoise North American Energy Corp.
Morris and Ragozzino are members of Bellamy’s team, and both are based in Denver.
Peng, who will work in Stamford, Conn., will initiate coverage of the exploration and production sector in early 2011. William Harrison, a research associate who has worked in Baird’s equity research department for the past five years, will join Peng’s research team.
This announcement marks the most recent development in Baird’s energy-related expansion across the equity capital markets platform. In April, Baird added a new energy investment banking team co-led by Curtis Goot and Frank Murphy. That team now has eight investment banking professionals.
Before joining Baird, Bellamy was a senior vice president and senior equity analyst with Wunderlich Securities in Denver. Previously, he was vice president and director of research for the Lehman Brothers MLP Opportunity Fund and MLP Partners in Texas. He also worked as a senior equity analyst with Stifel, Nicolaus & Co. in Denver.
Peng joins Baird from Luminus Management in New York, where she was a research analyst for a long/short power/utility/energy hedge fund. Peng also worked as an associate at Citigroup Investment Research. She also worked as a corporate finance director with Inergy LP, a publicly-traded MLP, and as an investment banking analyst at A.G. Edwards & Sons.
