Financo, the New York-based investment bank, has enlisted Philippe Faraut as managing director of its West Coast operations.

Faraut will report to the Financo chief executive Gilbert W. Harrison and operating chief William Susman.

Faraut comes with a wide range of experience across the retail sector; he has worked on deals involving Kraft, Schneider Electric and Jimmy Choo Ltd., among others. He joins Financo from the Sage Group in Los Angeles but comes armed with a wealth of bulge bracket experience.

Faraut also led HSBC Securities USA’s consumer retail team when he was its director of global investment banking; he has also spent time with Merrill Lynch. At Sage Group, he again focused on retail transactions.

Faraut holds a Master of Business Administration degree from the Anderson School at UCLA and a Hospitality Management degree from the Centre International De Glion in Montreaux, Switzerland.

Middle market banks appear to be hiring even more bulge bracket pros as optimism continues to grow for the US economy. Recently, Leerink Swann dipped into the bulge bracket hiring pool when it took four Merrill veterans from BofA.  James Boylan will be named the firm’s head of investment banking. He will focus on biotech, pharmaceutical, medical device and healthcare services. Joining him are Bryan Giraudo, Tony Gibney and Mark Page.

Career moves Financial services industry