About

David Hilder has advised corporate executives, directors and institutional investors for nearly 30 years on corporate strategy, mergers and acquisitions, capital structure and equity valuation. He founded Hilder & Co. to provide strategic advisory services and is its Chief Executive Officer.
      Previously, David was a Managing Director and head of Financial Institutions Investment Banking at Drexel Hamilton, an investment bank owned by service-disabled U.S. military veterans.
      Before moving to investment banking, David spent 25 years as an equity research analyst at major sell-side and buy-side firms, covering the largest U.S. commercial banks, investment banks and financial-services firms. He joined Drexel Hamilton in 2012 from Susquehanna International Group, where he also covered the largest U.S. banks and investment banks.
       From 2008 through 2010, David was a Senior Vice President of Putnam Investments, a Boston-based firm managing $160 billion of client assets. He was Team Leader of Putnam’s equity research analysts following U.S. financial stocks. He also served as co-manager of the Putnam Global Financials Fund, and managed the bank stock investments of the Putnam Research Fund.
       David joined Putnam following seven years at Bear Stearns & Co., where he was a Managing Director in equity research following major U.S. banks. Based on the performance of his stock ratings in 2007, he was ranked by StarMine and the Financial Times as the top-performing analyst covering large U.S. banks, and was ranked #6 among all U.S. analysts across all industries. He was also ranked #1 for stock-picking in super-regional banks by Bloomberg Markets magazine in 2003.

        Previously, David was a Principal and equity research analyst at Morgan Stanley, where he covered U.S. regional and multinational banks from 1997 to 2001. From 1994 to 1997, David covered diversified financial services stocks for Morgan Stanley, including credit card, securities brokerage, and asset management firms. From September 1991 through February 1994, he was a Vice President and equity research analyst at Credit Suisse First Boston covering financial services and the savings and loan industry. David was twice named an All-Star Analyst by The Wall Street Journal in the Brokers and Other Finance category.
       Before working on Wall Street, David was a reporter and deputy news editor at The Wall Street Journal in New York and Los Angeles from 1983 to 1991, covering banking and financial services, mergers and acquisitions, and writing the “Heard on the Street” column. He began his career as a reporter and editor at The Atlanta Journal and Constitution, which nominated him for a Pulitzer Prize for his coverage of the Atlanta child murders and the Wayne Williams trial.
       David received a B.A. degree From Harvard University with honors in History and Literature. He was Executive Editor of The Harvard Crimson.
       In non-profit activities, David has served as a trustee of Muhlenberg College in Allentown, PA. He is a member of the Yale School of Architecture Dean’s Council.
       For more than 10 years, David has served on committees of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority that prepare questions for licensing examinations, including the Series 79 exam for investment bankers and the series 86/87 exams for equity research analysts.