Bio

Avi J. Barak is a managing director within financial services investment banking at Piper Sandler. Barak advises the boards and senior management of financial institutions on strategic matters including capital raising, mergers & acquisitions, balance sheet restructurings & optimizations, and asset/liability management. He also works with institutional clients, including private equity firms, hedge funds and money managers in both evaluating and executing equity and debt investments in financial institutions. Barak has worked on dozens of capital raises and mergers, ranging in value from the single-digit millions, to nearly one billion. Barak represents clients of all sizes in the financial services space. Previously, he was a managing director in the investment banking group of Sandler O’Neill + Partners, which he joined in 2003. Prior to joining the investment banking group, Barak served as a managing director in equity research, focused on regional and community banks and the banking industry. In 2006, Barak was recognized by Forbes.com/StarMine as the #2 stock picker for the commercial banks industry. From 2007 through 2009, Barak was the winner of the SNL Dartboard Challenge, the only three-time winner since the inception of the contest. As an analyst, Barak spoke at various bank industry conferences, and was routinely quoted in the business news media including The Wall Street Journal, The American Banker, and SNL Financial. Barak began his career in the equity research department of Prudential Securities, where he focused on regional banks and the banking industry. Barak graduated from Cornell University with a double major in economics and psychology.