Securities broker-dealer and investment bank Merriman Curhan Ford has hired Michael Fitzsimmons and David Schane to lead its new CapitalPARA_BREAK_SENTINEL_9f8e7d6c

Securities broker-dealer and investment bank Merriman Curhan Ford has hired Michael Fitzsimmons and David Schane to lead its new Capital Access Group.

The focus of the new group is to raise capital for institutional hedge funds, venture capital and private equity clients for a fee.

'We believe fee-based capital raising is an underserved area of the institutional brokerage industry,' says Greg Curhan, president of Merriman Curhan Ford & Co. 'There is a tremendous opportunity for Capital Access to create a value-added service for selected clients, which complements our existing business and will generate a recurring revenue stream. Mike and David each bring with them an extensive network of global contacts and experience in this business - key to making this a successful effort. I have worked with both of them, and seen first hand the breadth and depth of their relationships with clients looking to place their funds under professional management. I am very pleased to welcome them to the firm.'

Fitzsimmons was most recently a partner at SFO Trading, an electronic trading platform primarily for hedge funds to access global equity markets. Prior to SFO, he established Lodestone Capital Partners, a long/short US-based hedge fund, where he served as a managing partner in London.

He started his career as an institutional equity salesperson with various firms, including Volpe Welty & Co, in San Francisco where he was a senior salesperson. Fitzsimmons holds a BS in engineering from Clarkson University and is based in Merriman Curhan Ford & Co's New York office.

Schane was most recently an independent consultant, arranging meetings with institutional investors in the United States and Europe. Before that, he was a senior vice president, senior portfolio manager and investment counsellor at Wells Fargo Private Client Services.

He started his career in institutional sales at Credit Suisse First Boston, working first in Zurich and then in London. Schane holds a BA in political science from Northwestern University and an MA in international relations from the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva, Switzerland and is based in Merriman Curhan Ford & Co's San Francisco office.

Background notes: Merriman Curhan Ford & Co. is a securities broker-dealer and investment bank focused on fast-growing companies and growth-oriented institutional investors. It provides investment research, brokerage and trading services primarily to institutions, as well as advisory and investment banking services to corporate clients. Its mission is to become a leader in the researching, advising, financing and trading of fast-growing companies. Merriman Curhan Ford & Co. is registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission as a broker-dealer and is a member of the National Association of Securities Dealers, Inc. and SIPC.

MCF Corporation (AMEX: MEM) is a financial services holding company that provides investment research, capital markets services, asset management, wealth management, corporate and venture services, and investment banking through its operating subsidiaries, Merriman Curhan Ford & Co., MCF Asset Management, LLC, and MCF Wealth Management, LLC. MCF Asset Management, LLC and MCF Wealth Management, LLC are two recently formed businesses that are predicated on fee-based, recurring revenue models.

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