Houlihan Lokey, the global investment bank, announced that Reinhard Koester has joined the firm as a Managing Director and Co-Head of the Financial Institutions Group (FIG), where he will help grow the firm’s Specialty Finance practice. He is based in New York.

Koester joins from Barclays Capital, where he was Co-Head of Specialty Finance. A seasoned banker with more than two decades of experience, Koester previously co-led and helped build the specialty finance practices at Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase. He was also an attorney at Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP.

“Reinhard’s experience in building strong specialty finance practices at several institutions, along with his client relationships around the world, will help further build on our FIG Group’s success,” said Scott Adelson, Co-President and Co-Head of Corporate Finance. “His leadership and expertise represent an excellent fit with our client-centric culture, and I’m delighted that he has joined Houlihan Lokey.”

“I could not be more thrilled to join Houlihan Lokey at this exciting time in the firm’s and the FIG Group’s growth trajectory,” said Mr. Koester. “Houlihan Lokey is uniquely positioned to provide independent advice to leading financial services companies, and I look forward to helping expand the FIG Group.”

“I am excited to add Reinhard as my new partner,” said Jeffrey M. Levine, Managing Director and Co-Head of the Financial Institutions Group. “I look forward to continuing to grow our market-leading mortgage, commercial and consumer finance, insurance, and asset management practices.”

Koester holds a B.S. in Finance from Arizona State University, an MBA from the University of Michigan, and a J.D. from Yale University.

With 30 professionals, Houlihan Lokey's Financial Institutions Group remains the most active U.S. Specialty Finance-focused group over the past decade. Between 2007 and 2016, Houlihan Lokey ranked No. 1 for all U.S. specialty finance transactions, based on number of deals, according to SNL Financial.