StoneX Financial Inc (NASDAQ:SNEX) today announced the launch of its Financial Institutions Group (FIG) research practice within The Benchmark Company, a subsidiary of StoneX, expanding the firm’s equity research capabilities to regional and community banks.

The establishment of the FIG research practice represents a strategic expansion of Benchmark’s existing research coverage further into the Financials sector, building on Benchmark’s established institutional franchise and reflects a continued focus on capital markets capabilities, particularly across equity capital markets (ECM), research, and distribution.

The new practice additionally strengthens StoneX’s longstanding relationships across the regional and community banking ecosystem.

“This is a natural extension of our institutional offering and our commitment to delivering high-quality, differentiated research to our clients,” said Rich Messina, CEO of Benchmark, a StoneX company. “By expanding our coverage within financial institutions, we are enhancing our ability to connect investors with actionable insights while strengthening our engagement with an important segment of the market.”

This growth is designed to complement StoneX’s existing relationships across the institutional financial landscape.

“Regional and community banks are one of the most important and underserved segments in the market, and we already work alongside them every day across fixed income, payments, and hedging,” said Rob LaForte, Global Head of Fixed Income Sales and FIG at StoneX. “Adding dedicated equity research deepens what we can bring to these institutions and the investors who follow them. It’s another way we show up for this segment as one firm, across the StoneX ecosystem.”

The FIG Research practice is supported by a dedicated team spanning research, specialized sales and trading, bringing deep experience across financial institutions, equity research, and market execution.

Brett Rabatin, Head of FIG Research, will be leading the practice and brings over 25 years of experience covering regional and community banks across the sell-side, including prior leadership roles in financial institutions research.

Andrew Liesch and Kenneth James join as Senior Research Analysts focused on regional and community bank coverage. Andrew joins with almost 20 years of industry experience while Kenneth’s tenure in industry, when combined with over a decade on the sell-side, provides a unique perspective to our client base. Both will be contributing deep sector expertise and longstanding industry relationships.

Kyle Gierman joins as an Equity Research Associate supporting the team’s analytical and coverage efforts.

The team is complemented by dedicated distribution and execution capabilities:

• Bob Hughes joins in a specialized sales role, utilizing over 25 years of experience focused on connecting FIG research and insights with targeted institutional investors.
• Bob Hurley strengthens the trading function, bringing decades of experience and relationships in bank stocks and equity sales trading.

Together, the team has long standing experience with research, idea generation, and execution, supporting both investor engagement and client outcomes.