Cantor Fitzgerald Expands Consumer Equity Research Group

NEW YORK, April 9, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Cantor Fitzgerald & Co., a leading global financial services firm, today announced the expansion of its equity research team with the appointments of Laura Champine, CFA, as Managing Director and Senior Consumer Research Analyst, and Jason Smith, as Vice President and Consumer Research Analyst. They will be based in New York and report to Christina Valauri, Global Head of Equity Research at Cantor Fitzgerald.

"We are pleased to welcome Laura and Jason to the Cantor Research team," Shawn P. Matthews, Chief Executive Officer of Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. "Laura and Jason have a deep understanding of the consumer sector, and their appointments underscore our commitment to high-quality research, and strengthen our ability to uncover unique investment opportunities for our clients. We are constantly growing our breadth and depth of expertise to provide differentiated market-leading analysis across our research platform."

Christina Valauri added, "The team will cover a broad number of companies and sectors within the consumer industry, and I am confident that their deep industry knowledge will add immediate value as we continue the expansion of our research platform."

Prior to joining Cantor, Ms. Champine served as a Managing Director at Canaccord Genuity, covering the retail sector.  Earlier, she worked as an analyst at Cowen & Company and Morgan Keegan, covering retail stocks. Ms. Champine holds a B.M. in Music from Boston Conservatory.

Mr. Smith recently served as Senior Associate and Vice President, in Retail & Consumer Products Equity Research at Canaccord Genuity. Prior to that, he served at Cowen & Company covering retail stocks, and at Value Line Publishing as a Senior Industry Analyst and Supervisory Editor. Mr. Smith holds a B.A. in Electronic Journalism and History from Hofstra University.

About Cantor Fitzgerald
Cantor Fitzgerald, a leading global financial services group at the forefront of financial and technological innovation has been a proven and resilient leader for over 65 years. Cantor is a preeminent capital markets investment bank serving more than 7,000 institutional clients around the world, recognized for its strengths in fixed income and equity capital markets, investment banking, prime brokerage, and commercial real estate financing and its global distribution platform.  Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. is one of 22 primary dealers authorized to trade U.S. government securities with The Federal Reserve Bank of New York.  Cantor Fitzgerald's 1,600 employees serve clients through over 30 locations, including major financial centers around the world in the Americas, Europe, Asia/Pacific, and the Middle East. For more information please visit www.cantor.com.

Note to Editors: Cantor Fitzgerald, L.P., led by Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Howard W. Lutnick, is the parent entity of Cantor Fitzgerald & Co., led by Chief Executive Officer Shawn P. Matthews.

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SOURCE Cantor Fitzgerald