FINANCIAL SERVICES BANKING
Lucid’s insight drives stability in the dynamic financial services landscape
OVERVIEW
Financial Services
Our financial services team excels in navigating the intricacies of the industry with a focus on innovation and precision. By crafting tailored strategies that address regulatory complexities and market shifts, Lucid empowers clients to confidently achieve their financial objectives, ensuring that every solution is as unique as the challenges faced.
MEET THE TEAM
Leadership
Lucid’s Financial Services team brings decades years of collaborative experience, delivering a proven, results-driven strategy that stands out in the industry.
Peter Blum
Vice Chairman, Financial Institutions Group
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Peter H. Blum serves as the Vice Chairman of Lucid Capital Markets. Prior to joining Lucid, Mr. Blum served as CEO of Ladenburg Thalmann, a middle market investment bank. Mr. Blum was also President of Bear Ridge Capital LLC, a financial advisory firm specializing in providing strategic Merger and Acquisition advice as well as providing private capital to mid size businesses, and start-ups primarily in the Energy Sector. Mr. Blum formerly served as Senior Managing Director and Head of Investment Banking of GBI Capital, a predecessor to Ladenburg. Before joining GBI in 1997, Mr. Blum was Managing Director and Head of the Energy, Merger and Acquisitions, and Restructuring Groups of Rodman and Renshaw Inc. and Mabon Securities Corp. Mr. Blum has also taken active management roles with public and private companies in order to facilitate their sale or restructuring. Mr. Blum also was a Partner at Houghton and Company, an Advisory and Leveraged Buyout boutique. He started his career at Arthur Young and Company. Mr. Blum currently serves as Chairman of MIND Technology, Inc. (NasdaqGS:MIND).
Steve Kaplan
Managing Director, Financial Institutions Group
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Steve Kaplan serves as Managing Director at Lucid Capital Markets. Prior to joining Lucid, Mr. Kaplan served as Head of Capital Markets at Ladenburg Thalmann, a middle market investment bank. Mr. Kaplan has worked in the financial community for over twenty-five years and has substantial experience advising companies in a variety of industries. During his career, Mr. Kaplan has participated in over 500 transactions for both public and private companies. Mr. Kaplan has also served as Co-Founder of River Capital Partners, a healthcare investment banking boutique firm, spent three years with Prudential Securities where he was a Vice President in the Healthcare Investment Banking Group and three years as a Vice President in the Corporate Advisory Group of Jefferies & Company. During his tenure with these firms Mr. Kaplan primarily focused on the Healthcare industry, though he also completed transactions in the technology, retailing, and financial services industries. Mr. Kaplan’s background also includes three years as a Manager in the Corporate Finance Group of Deloitte & Touche, where he primarily focused on performing due diligence reviews related to acquisition transactions and four years as an auditor with Pricewaterhouse Coopers.
Ethan Kaye
Vice President, Equity Research
Jeffrey Caliva
Managing Director, Financial Institutions Group
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Jeffrey currently serves as Managing Director of Financial Institutions Investment Banking for Lucid Capital Markets. Jeff has over 10 years of investment banking and capital markets experience, and previously served as Managing Director in the FIG group at Ladenburg Thalmann. Over his career, Jeff has worked with numerous financial companies including REITs, Business Development Companies (BDCs), Closed-end Funds, Banks, SPACs and Asset Managers assisting them in a broad cross-section of transaction types, including M&A advisory, equity and equity-linked offerings, private placements and fixed income transactions. Jeff has completed over 500 financing transactions in his career, raising in excess of $80 billion. Jeff began his career as an associate for a billion-dollar RIA. Jeff holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics with a Minor in Business Administration from Louisiana State University.
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Ethan joined Lucid in 2025 as a Vice President of the specialty finance equity research team, covering business development companies (BDCs). Prior to Lucid, Ethan worked as an equity research analyst at Bloomberg where he built out the firm's BDC equity coverage. Ethan has 10+ years of financial industry experience and holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation. He earned his bachelor’s degree in economics from Franklin and Marshall college.
OUR SERVICES
Areas of expertise
Capital Markets
Our team has successfully executed hundreds of public and private transactions for specialty finance companies across a variety of product offerings with a focus on Business Development Companies (BDCs), Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) and SPACs.
Fixed Income
Our team has deep experience with fixed income capital market transactions in our covered sectors with a particular expertise in $25 par securities (baby bonds, term preferreds)
Financial Advisory
We offer strategic advice and execution by combining our deep experience with knowledge of the industry and today’s global market. Our services include M&A advisory services, fairness opinion, board presentations, strategic committees, among others.