Bio

Tom Michaud serves as President and Chief Executive Officer of Keefe, Bruyette & Woods (KBW), an investment bank specializing in the financial services and fintech sectors. Since joining the firm in 1986 as a credit analyst trainee, he has spent 38 years developing the KBW franchise and leading many of its businesses. Tom co-led the firm’s rebuilding efforts following 9/11 and was instrumental in launching the firm’s IPO in 2006. Tom was named CEO in October 2011, assuming direction of all business lines in the United States and Europe. Under his leadership, KBW has evolved into the premier investment bank to the financial services industry. The company is routinely recognized for its leadership in research, mergers & acquisitions and capital raising for financial institutions. Tom maintains strong personal relationships with leading industry executives, policy makers, and institutional investors and has been instrumental in executing many of KBW’s largest transactions. More recently, Tom has become a leading authority on the digitalization of banking and the emergence of fintech. In February 2013, Tom led the firm’s merger into Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE: SF). KBW is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Stifel and Tom serves as Co-Head of Equities and Advisory and is a member of Stifel’s Institutional Group Management Committee. Tom is a member of the Board of Directors of 9/11 Day, the nonprofit organization that supports and leads the September 11 National Day of Service and Remembrance, the nation’s largest annual day of charitable engagement. He also serves on the Board of the Foreign Policy Association of New York and the Board of Leaders of the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California and is a member of the Economic Club of New York. Tom was invited in 2023 to testify before a Congressional subcommittee reviewing the federal response to high-profile bank failures, where he advocated for FDIC Deposit Insurance modernization and cautioned against over-reaching on the policy response to the banking crisis. He highlighted the importance of regional banks to the continued health of small businesses in the United States. Tom is a graduate of Middlebury College where he studied Economics and played baseball. Early in his career, Tom attended night school and earned an MBA from NYU's Stern School of Business.