Hilltop Securities Inc. (HilltopSecurities) recently welcomed Managing Director Gary Garay as Head of Municipal Housing Banking in Miami, Florida. The firm also has recently added public finance investment bankers Managing Director Tania Askins in Dallas, Texas, Senior Vice President Sabaa Modi in Austin, Texas, and Senior Vice President Connor Benoit in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The new hires are the latest example of HilltopSecurities’ continuing expansion, as the firm has added more than a dozen experienced public finance investment bankers since the beginning of 2024 alone.

“HilltopSecurities has been committed to the public finance industry since our firm’s founding more than 75 years ago, and we remain focused on selectively hiring the most talented investment bankers in the business,” said HilltopSecurities’ President and CEO Brad Winges.

As Head of Municipal Housing Banking, Garay will focus on growing the four-person team as they work in concert with HilltopSecurities’ TBA business to expand the firm’s role as a market leader in housing finance. He brings 20 years of experience in the issuance of housing bonds and joins HilltopSecurities from UBS Financial Services Inc. where he served as Head of the New England Finance Team and Head of the National Housing Group. During his career, Garay also has held positions with J.P. Morgan Securities, and Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Askins joins HilltopSecurities in Dallas, TX as Managing Director and brings 20 years of infrastructure finance experience to her new role. She joins the firm from Estrada Hinojosa & Company where she served as Senior Managing Director. She also has held positions with Citigroup, the United States Department of Transportation, and Ambac Assurance Corporation.

Modi joins HilltopSecurities’ Austin, TX office as Senior Vice President and brings nearly a decade of experience to her new role. She most recently served with Citigroup as a Vice President in the Transportation Group.

Benoit joins HilltopSecurities’ Charlotte, NC office as a Senior Vice President and brings almost 10 years of public finance investment banking experience to his position. He most recently worked at Citigroup Global Markets Inc. as Vice President and a senior member of the Infrastructure and Transportation Group, among other roles.

“We are proud to welcome Gary, Tania, Sabaa, and Connor to our team, as well as the other experienced professionals who have joined HilltopSecurities this year. We look forward to their contributions serving our clients in communities across the U.S.,” said Mike Bartolotta, HilltopSecurities’ Co-Head of Public Finance.

About Hilltop Securities Inc.

HilltopSecurities is a full-service municipal investment bank and wealth advisory firm providing a full suite of financial services for public entities, institutional investors, housing finance agencies, broker-dealers, and individual investors. Founded in 1946, its primary areas of focus include public finance, capital markets, structured finance, retail brokerage, clearing services, and securities lending. Hilltop Securities Inc.’s goal is to build long-term relationships to help communities, businesses, and individuals thrive. A wholly owned subsidiary of Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE: HTH), HilltopSecurities’ affiliates include Momentum Independent Network, HilltopSecurities Insurance, PlainsCapital Bank, and PrimeLending. Learn more at HilltopSecurities.com. Member: NYSE/FINRA/SIPC.

Forward-Looking Statements Disclaimer

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements anticipated in such statements. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made and, except as required by law, we do not assume any duty to update forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements concerning such things as our plans, objectives, strategies, expectations, intentions and other statements that are not statements of historical fact, and may be identified by words such as “believe,” “continue,” “expects,” “expand,” “focus,” “may,” “plan,” “seeks,” “will” or “would” or the negative of these words and phrases or similar words or phrases. See the risk factors described in Hilltop Holdings Inc.’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and other reports that are filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. All forward-looking statements are qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement.

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