Westhoff-Martin & Associates this month hired four investment bankers from Bear, Stearns & Co., including the three bankers working in Bear Stearns's San Francisco public finance office.
Anthony Cone, formerly an associate director of Bear Stearns's San Francisco office, and Mark Holmstedt, formerly an associate director of the firm's Los Angeles office, are among those joining Westhoff-Martin, a regional firm based in Lafayette, Calif.
Two other Bear Stearns bankers in San Francisco -- Vice President Bruce Kerns and Robert Martz, an associate -- also have joined Westhoff-Martin.
The new staff "adds to our capability" to handle local agency financings, including those entailing assessments or special taxes, said R. Thomas Westhoff, president of the firm. The special tax bonds are commonly known in California as Mello-Roos financings.
Mr. Westhoff and some of the new hires previously had worked together at Dean Witter Reynolds Inc. in San Francisco. Mr. Westhoff said the more experienced bankers at the firm plan to work as co-equals, so "we haven't figured out" such matters as titles yet.
