Bancroft Capital hires Villanova as director of municipals

Bancroft Capital has hired Dana Villanova as director of municipals, the firm announced on Monday.

Villanova, who will be working remotely from Hawaii, will help expand Bancroft’s engagement with issuers, financial advisors and its underwriting partners, with a focus on the West Coast.

She will also use her background in bond insurance and green bond verification to enhance the options the firm can present to issuers, the firm said.

Bancroft is a certified Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) specializing in institutional brokerage and capital markets services.

Villanova has almost 20 years of experience in the public finance industry. She has worked in institutional trading, bond insurance and the retail buy side.

“I am very excited to work with Bancroft — this opportunity to do what I love, from where we are stationed, is incredible,” she said.

Villanova’s husband is an active-duty Army Lt. Colonel stationed at Camp Smith in Hawaii.

“Having recently relocated due to my husband’s military duties, I was eager to get back into the workforce and further my career,” she said. “Bancroft’s focus on helping military veterans find meaningful education and employment after serving aligns with my core values.”

CEO Cauldon Quinn said, as the wife of a military member, Villanova represents an investment in support of military families.

“Much like the culture here at Bancroft, Dana’s dedication to her military family comes first, having recently experienced a loss of employment to move with her active-duty husband to serve at Camp Smith,” Quinn said. “We are honored to employ her talents at Bancroft and we support her military family with gratitude.”

Villanova received a B.S. in Communications from Florida Atlantic University and holds certifications in Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability Strategies and Business Strategies for Social Impact. She holds Series 6, 7, 63, and 65 licenses from FINRA.

Headquartered in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania, Bancroft was co-founded in 2017 by Quinn, a disabled Navy veteran. It held its grand opening in 2018. In 2020, Bancroft picked Bill Carabasi to be its director of municipal sales.

In October, Bancroft beefed up its Dallas team with the hires of Alix Cethoute as director of municipal underwriting and Jack Logan as director of municipal sales.

The firm is committed to offering meaningful training and employment to service-disabled veterans. Its veteran training program (VTP), places financial industry veterans alongside military veterans to deliver value-added content to its clients.

Bancroft funnels some of its profits into the VTP, which allows disabled veterans to develop skills that can give them careers as institutional traders and investment bankers.

Villanova will also serve as an ambassador for Bancroft’s veteran training program.

Additionally, Bancroft aims to offer paid opportunities to up to four VTP candidates each year. Candidate training includes a rotation among the five business units the firm operates and an introduction to back office and operations functions, sales trading and compliance.