Blaylock taps Aquacena Lopez to oversee expanding municipal division

By Devika Patel

Knoxville, Tenn., May 5 - Blaylock Robert Van LLC said it has hired Aquacena Lopez to oversee the company's municipal finance expansion.

Lopez has more than two decades' experience structuring municipal bonds and advising original issuers. Prior to joining Blaylock, she was president and founder of A. Lopez & Associates, an advisory firm specializing in municipal bond original issuance for California public agencies. Earlier, she was principal and co-founder of Vogel Lopez & Associates, which also advised California public agencies. She also was a vice president at KNN Public Finance, a division of Zions Bank.

Lopez earned a master's degree in business administration from the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley, and a bachelor's degree from the University of San Francisco, where she graduated with highest honors.

"We plan to be a major player in the municipal finance industry," Blaylock president Eric Standifer said in a press release. "Many of the major firms that have long dominated the industry are no longer in the business and regional firms increasingly are filling the void. The political and business climate also is becoming increasingly supportive and receptive of minority-owned firms and our successful track record in equity and fixed-income sales and trading gives us a major competitive advantage."

Standifer added that Blaylock is looking to make strategic acquisitions and hiring additional staff.

Oakland, Calif.-based Blaylock is a minority-owned investment banking boutique.

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