Vijay Rakesh to Lead Semiconductor Equity Research Coverage
New York – Mizuho Securities USA (“MSUSA”), the US investment banking subsidiary of the global Mizuho Financial Group, has appointed Vijay Rakesh as Managing Director and Senior Semiconductor Analyst, a key addition to its U.S. Equity Research team, announced John Koudounis, President and CEO.
“We continue to build on the talent and expertise of our U.S. Equity Research team to better serve our clients. Vijay has a substantial career in the semiconductor industry and on Wall Street and will be an invaluable addition to the firm,” Koudounis said.
In his new position, Mr. Rakesh will be responsible for leading all aspects of MSUSA’s U.S. semiconductor equity coverage to provide investors with highly differentiated, value-added research. He also will join with MSUSA senior analysts Abhey Lamba (Enterprise Software/Hardware) and Neil Doshi (Internet/Interactive Gaming) in collaborating closely with Mizuho Securities Group technology research teams in Tokyo and Hong Kong to offer investors unique, integrated global technology coverage.
Mr. Rakesh joins MSUSA with nearly two decades of semiconductor industry experience and over fourteen years on Wall Street. Before joining Mizuho, Mr. Rakesh was a Managing Director and senior analyst covering large, mid and small-cap semiconductor names at Sterne Agee. He also has previously held senior equity research positions in the semiconductor space for ThinkEquity, Oppenheimer, Next Generation Equity Research, Brean Capital and Investec. Mr. Rakesh began his career with semiconductor chip-maker International Rectifier Corp. He received his MBA from The Anderson School at UCLA and M.S. in Materials Science from the University of Florida.
“The expansion of MSUSA’s equity research coverage with such a well-regarded and highly talented analyst as Rakesh further highlights our deep commitment to building a premier U.S. equity research franchise that is a leader inoriginal, value-added investment ideas and analysis,” commented Sheryl Skolnick, MSUSA’s Director of Research.
Matthew DeSalvo, Executive Managing Director and Head of MSUSA’s Equity Division, added, “With the experience and depth of industry knowledge that Rakesh brings to his new role, together with the ongoing investment to sales, trading and research that we’ve made to our equity platform, MSUSA is now better positioned to help clients reach their financial objectives with superior coverage, pricing and execution capabilities.”
About Mizuho Securities USA
Mizuho Securities USA Inc. is a U.S. registered broker-dealer headquartered in New York City, with offices in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Hoboken (NJ), Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco and London (UK). MSUSA provides a wide range of fixed income and equity securities products and investment banking services to institutional clients. MSUSA is one of only 22 firms designated as a Primary Dealer in U.S. Government and Agency securities. MSUSA also is a U.S. registered futures commission merchant (“FCM”) and a member of most international futures exchanges. MSUSA’s parent company, Mizuho Securities Co., Ltd., is a top-tier, full-service, Japanese securities firm and a core member of the Mizuho Financial Group.
Mizuho Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE: MFG), based in Japan, is one of the largest financial institutions in the world, offering a broad range of financial services including banking, securities, trust and asset management, credit card, private banking services, and venture capital through its group companies. The group has approximately 56,000 staff working in more than 920 offices in over 32 countries and total assets of over $1.62 trillion as of December 31,, 2014. Its core global corporate banking entity, Mizuho Bank, Ltd., has offices throughout Japan, the U.S., the Americas, and the world, providing financial and strategic solutions to major corporations, financial institutions and public sector entities. For more information, please visit http://www.mizuho-fg.co.jp/english/