Imperial Capital Group expanded its Institutional Research and Investment Banking presence across the energy sector, with the addition of seven seasoned professionals, formerly of Wunderlich Securities.

Joining the Investment Banking Energy team based in Houston are Kevin Andrews as managing director, head of Energy Investment Banking; Daniel DeSnyder as managing director; Lenny Bianco as senior vice president and Chris Lang as vice president. Also based in Houston, the research team will include senior energy analysts, Jason Wangler and Irene Haas, as well as Jiuying “Claire” Ye as an associate.

“With the addition of these energy professionals, we are continuing the overall focus of the firm to add growth in sectors of the economy that are active users of capital,” said Christopher Shepard, EVP, co-head of Investment Banking.

Andrews joins as a managing director and head of Energy in the Investment Banking Group. With more than 20 years of energy sector experience through investment banking, industry and public accounting, Andrews served as a managing director and head of Energy with Wunderlich for the previous five years. Andrews was also a managing director for Pritchard Capital Partners and Morgan Keegan.

DeSnyder joins with 20 years of experience. DeSnyder served as a director for Wunderlich. He started his career as an advisor to the Clinton and W. Bush administrations. Later, he held a variety of increasingly senior positions at Shell Oil. His banking experience includes capital markets and advisory work at Harrision Lovegrove, Standard Chartered Bank and GMP Securities.

Bianco joins with more than 10 years of engineering and finance experience, primarily focused on the energy sector. Most recently, Bianco served as a vice president in the energy investment banking department for Wunderlich. In addition, he was a senior equity research associate at Raymond James and an equity research associate at Pritchard Capital Partners.

Before Imperial, Lang was an associate at Wunderlich, where he advised on a wide range of transactions including debt financings, M&A and equity capital raises while also serving as an engineer in the A&D group. Prior to Wunderlich, Lang was a senior associate at Grant Thornton in both the Transaction Services and Corporate Advisory and Restructuring groups.

Wangler joins as a managing director and senior research analyst with more than 10 years of research experience. Wangler served in a similar capacity at Wunderlich, and also worked at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey and Dahlman Rose & Company, as well as Netherland, Sewell, & Associates.

Haas has more than 19 years of experience as a senior research analyst in the Oil and Gas Exploration & Production sector. Including Wunderlich, Haas also served with Canaccord Genuity and founded the company’s Energy Team in Houston in 2006.