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SPOTLIGHT – JESSE JEFFERSON

Posted: October 27, 2020

Jesse Jefferson, Senior Vice President at Bancroft Capital, has over 30 years of experience in institutional fixed-income sales. Prior to joining Bancroft, Jesse worked at bulge bracket and regional firms including Dean Witter Reynolds, Paine Webber, Lehman Brothers, Stephens Inc. and Drexel Hamilton.

Jesse has comprehensive knowledge in the structure and sale of GSE debt including callables, floating rate notes, discount notes, structured notes, MBS, and CMBS as well as corporate credit, project finance and private placements. Known for his strength in developing key institutional relationships and his ability to identify and shape product strategies to satisfy investor benchmarks based on their investment policy.

Jesse is a U.S. Army Veteran and served from March of 1967 to March of 1969.

HOMETOWN

Houston, TX

EDUCATION

University of Houston

WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO JOIN BANCROFT CAPITAL?

When I heard about the great team that Cal put together, I knew I wanted to join Bancroft.

TELL US ABOUT YOUR DUTIES/DAY TO DAY EXPERIENCE AT BANCROFT CAPITAL.

My focus is on public funds and some asset management groups. I’ve been in the business 35 years so I know what my clients expect and how they want to approach it. I’m always trying to optimize the performance of their portfolios with a variety of strategies.

WHAT IS YOUR GREATEST PROFESSIONAL ACHIEVEMENT TO DATE?

I feel very proud of my varied background and particularly these two transactions:

  1. I was recruited by Alice Walton to work for her investment bank (Llama Company) selling collateralized bond obligations (CMBS based). I was successful in placing a $95 million product placement structured finance transaction with TIAA-Cref in NYC in 1996.
  2. In 2010, I worked on a $60 million transaction with Ansa Merchant Bank-Trinidad, a Four Seasons Hotel project in Barbados, on behalf of my client, Pacific Life Insurance Company.

WHAT ASSETS/SKILLS DO YOU BRING TO THE TEAM?

Developing key institutional relationships. I work very diligently on being able to identify and shape the right product for each client’s goals.

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON BANCROFT’S MISSION TO HIRE VETERANS?

I think it’s one of the best in the industry when it comes to hiring veterans and providing educational opportunities through partnerships with universities. They have made it a firm-wide mission to identify veterans and give them an opportunity to flourish.

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE PART ABOUT WORKING AT BANCROFT CAPITAL?

The independence I have to serve my clients. I’m on the west coast, Los Angeles, and I’m able to work like an entrepreneur in helping to expand the Bancroft Capital brand.

HOW DID YOU GET INTO THE FINANCE FIELD?

I was one of the top engineering printing systems salespeople in the institutional division at Xerox in Houston. In 1985, I was recruited by Dean Witter Reynolds, and I’ve never looked back.

CAN YOU SHARE YOUR EXPERIENCE SERVING IN THE U.S. ARMY?

I served in Vietnam from July 1967 through August 1968 in the 4th Division – 3rd of the 8th Infantry Battalion. We were very involved in the battle of Dat To and Kon Tum in November of 1967. We were also engaged in the Tet offensive in 1968.

WHEN YOU’RE NOT WORKING, WHAT ARE YOUR INTERESTS/HOBBIES?

I’m getting back into golf, am a big football fan, and like to read, especially books on leadership.

FAVORITE QUOTE?

“…before a dream is realized, the Soul of the World tests everything that was learned along the way. It does this not because it is evil, but so that we can, in addition to realizing our dreams, master the lessons we’ve learned as we’ve moved toward that dream. That’s the point at which most people give up. It’s the point at which, as we say in the language of the desert, one ‘dies of thirst just as the palm trees have appeared on the horizon.”

-From The Alchemist, my favorite book