Investment bank Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, a wholly owned subsidiary of Stifel Financial, hired Keith Meyers, Michael Jones and Ken Taratus as managing directors, Jim Chester as director and Irena Snider as vice president.

The five professionals are coming on board to broaden and deepen the firm’s investment banking practice with a focus on non-bank financial services sub-sectors.

“The financial services industry is evolving at a rapid pace and our new colleagues bring extensive experience focusing on some of the fastest growing and most innovative companies in the sector,” said Thomas Michaud, KBW CEO. “We believe these individuals will significantly enhance our capabilities and deliver added value to our clients.”

Meyers is based in Atlanta and will lead KBW’s new Financial Services group, which serves clients in the specialty finance, mortgage banking, financial technology, brokerage and asset management sectors. He brings more than 15 years of relevant experience serving both strategic and private equity investors in the financial services sector. He joins KBW from Raymond James’ Financial Services Investment Banking Group.

Jones is based in Chicago and will be co-head of Specialty Finance. Jones has spent the past 16 years as a senior member of the Financial Services Investment Banking Group at Raymond James, focused primarily on specialty finance companies. He previously served as an investment banker at ABN AMRO and spent several years working in the Debt Markets division at Merrill Lynch.

Taratus is also based in Atlanta and will work on expanding KBW’s range of debt and equity financing capabilities. Taratus joins KBW from the Raymond James Private Placement Group. He was previously head of Debt Placements at Morgan Keegan and served as a member of the firm’s Investment Banking Management Committee. His experience also includes several years at Jefferies & Company and Drexel Burnham Lambert.

“As the leading advisor to the financial services industry, KBW continues to make significant investments in our investment banking franchise,” said Peter J. Wirth, KBW EVP and head of Investment Banking.