BMO Capital Markets, the investment and corporate banking arm of BMO Financial Group (NYSE: BMO)(TSX: BMO), has appointed a new senior management team to lead the expansion of its U.S. cash equities business.

The four new leaders of this business are Alan Tannenbaum, Head of U.S. Equity Sales; Rick Joyce, Head of U.S. Equity Sales Trading; Will Bertsch, Head of U.S. Equity Facilitation Trading; and Sean MacKenzie, Head of U.S. Equity Electronic Trading. All four - who have a combined 72 years of industry experience - have joined BMO Capital Markets' Times Square office in New York this year. They have previously held similar management roles at major global investment banks.

With a new management team in place, BMO Capital Markets is looking significantly to expand its presence in the U.S. cash equities marketplace. Already, 23 senior equity sales and trading professionals have joined the firm. Recent hires have focused on cash equity sales and sales trading. "We are extremely excited about the quality of talent we have been able to attract, the experience they bring, and their individual track records of success. Collectively, they will be instrumental in providing our clients with a rising level of equity sales and trading service," said Mike Miller, Head of Equity Products, BMO Capital Markets.

A three-person equity sales team, to be managed by Ward Buckingham has also been brought on in Chicago. These appointments establish BMO's equity sales presence in the Midwest. "We now have equity sales desks in 11 cities - New York, Chicago, Boston, San Francisco, Houston, Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, London, Paris and Zurich," said Mr. Miller.

"As we build out our franchise in 2011, institutional investors are going to be quite surprised by the capability we are building at BMO Capital Markets. We will be hiring more equity research analysts in 2011. We are already providing full research coverage of 932 stocks with a team of 66 equity analysts, six macro/strategy analysts and a total research staff of 195. Today, we are the leader in terms of breadth and quality of research coverage for Canadian equities," said Mr. Miller.

"We are also working to cover more mining stocks than any other brokerage firm globally with our total coverage already at 161 companies. Our current coverage of 515 U.S. equities will continue to grow as we continue to focus on hiring highly experienced, industry expert analysts," added Mr. Miller.

"We will develop as strong a reputation for U.S. equity research as we have in Canada. We are now changing our focus to become one of the leading providers of equity research for the entire North American stock market and all mining companies trading on major exchanges globally. Firms like Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette (DLJ) and Lehman Brothers built upon strong research offerings in the past and we believe that this aspect of their strategies remains valid. We think money managers will reward a highly experienced and professional research, sales and trading team that adds value to the investment process," said Mr. Miller.

"Jack Blackstock, co-Head of BMO Capital Markets equity research in New York, was previously the Director of Research at DLJ. As a veteran analyst at both DLJ and First Boston, Jack was also a perennial all star ranked analyst in Institutional Investor's multi-industry category for many years. His depth of research experience, combined with Alan Tannenbaum's tenure as Global Head of Cash Equity Sales at Lehman Brothers gives us great perspective on how to build a major U.S. presence based on excellence in research," added Mr. Miller.

BMO Capital Markets has been steadily hiring within all areas of its business, especially in the United States. Since last year, BMO Capital Markets has brought on more than 450 employees worldwide. More than 190 of those individuals are based in the United States.

The newest members of BMO's equity sales and trading team are:

Equity Sales

Alan Tannenbaum - Head of U.S. Equity Sales, New York

Ward Buckingham - Chicago

Alan Gardner - Boston

Tom Goss - New York

Marybeth Rogers - New York

Matthew Alcorn - Chicago

Sean Landers - London

Joel Sutherland - New York

Chris Kwan - New York

Ken Grewal - New York

Tyler Kyle - New York

Sales Trading

Rick Joyce - Head of U.S. Equity Sales Trading, New York

Craig Bugniazet - New York

Stephen Curtis - New York

Marc Savini - New York

John Fredericks - New York

Scott Overbeck - New York

Trading

Will Bertsch - Head of U.S. Equity Facilitation Trading, New York

Tom Casey - New York

Electronic Trading

Sean MacKenzie - Head of U.S. Equity Electronic Trading, New York

Michael Ryoo - New York

Mike Bailleux - New York

Equity Marketing

Melissa Ruttner - Head of U.S. Equity Marketing, New York

About BMO Capital Markets

BMO Capital Markets is a leading, full-service North American financial services provider, with more than 2,000 employees operating in 14 North American offices and 26 worldwide, offering corporate, institutional and government clients access to a complete range of investment and corporate banking products and services. BMO Capital Markets is a member of BMO Financial Group (NYSE: BMO)(TSX: BMO), one of the largest diversified financial services providers in North America with US$386 billion total assets and 38,000 employees as at July 31, 2010.

Contacts:
Media Contacts:
Kim Hanson, Toronto
(416) 867-3996
kim.hanson@bmo.com
Holly Holt, New York
(212) 885-4153
holly.holt@bmo.com
Patrick O'Herlihy, Chicago
(312) 461-6970
patrick.o'herlihy@bmo.com