SMBC Nikko Securities America announced that Raffi Dawson has joined the firm as Managing Director, Head of Structured Finance Group. In this new role, Dawson will be responsible for overseeing the securitization businesses, including conduit business, ABS and CLO. Dawson is based in New York, and reports to Scott Ashby, Head of Capital Markets and Investment Banking.

“We are very excited to welcome Raffi to SMBC Nikko to lead our Structured Finance group,” said Scott Ashby. “Raffi brings to the organization a wealth of experience to this role and will help support the sustained growth of our securitization business and further enhance and sharpen the execution of our strategy and delivery for global corporate clients. Raffi will lead a talented team that continues to grow with new hires as well as secure new business and growth opportunities. We look forward to seeing this team continue its strong trajectory under Raffi’s leadership.”

Dawson joins SMBC from Mizuho, where he served as Managing Director and Co-Head of Origination in Securitized Products Origination, maintaining primary coverage responsibilities across multiple sectors for the securitization business including, Telecom, Media and Technology, FIG/Fintech, Energy, Sponsors, and IDI. In addition, he led strategies around new asset types such as Non-Prime, FinTech, Specialty Finance, and Handsets.

Prior to joining Mizuho in 2010, Dawson began his career at GE Capital, where he held various positions from Analyst to Vice President in Securitization & Alternative Funding and Capital Markets Project Finance. He managed Canadian and U.S. conduit platforms and U.S. ABS equipment platforms with multi-billion U.S. dollar issuances in total and had responsibilities for modeling, structuring, analyzing credit, and executing deals.

Dawson earned his Bachelor of Business Administration magna cum laude in finance with a minor in economics from the University of Massachusetts and his Master of Business Administration with a major in finance from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. He also holds Series 7, 24 and 63 FINRA licenses.