Banorte-Ixe Securities International, the brokerage arm of Mexican financial services company Grupo Financiero Banorte, is moving its headquarters from New York to Houston as part of a shift in the firm’s strategy.
The decision was made, in part, to be closer to the brokerage firm’s client base which is mostly in Mexico, according to an announcement by Banorte made public on Monday.
‘Our relocation of the US headquarters to Houston is the start of a new chapter for Banorte Securities,’ said Luis Pietrini, a managing director at Grupo Financiero Banorte’s private banking unit.
‘With a new seasoned management team at the helm and an expanded array of technology-driven products to appeal to our sophisticated clientele, we are committed to extending the same trusted expertise fueling Banorte in Mexico for the past 100 years to clients across North America,’ he added.
Banorte-Ixe Securities has also bolstered its advisor team, hiring Victor Bujanda in August from Wells Fargo. He has more than 27 years experience in the financial industry and is based in Houston, according to Banorte’s website.
In October last year, Banorte-Ixe Securities hired Xavier Ibarrola from BBVA Compass’s Houston offices as the division’s new chief executive officer. It also added Juan Medina this year as chief investment officer covering products and strategy from Morgan Stanley.
The firm also added Laura Raab in May from UBS’s offices in Houston, according to her BrokerCheck profile. She has also worked at Raymond James, DeutscheBank and Merrill Lynch and has more than 16 years experience in the financial industry, per BrokerCheck.
The new office is located inside Houston’s Galleria Financial Center office building and is fully operational, according to a spokesperson for Banorte-Ixe. Currently, it has three advisors while Banorte’s supplementary space in The Woodlands neighborhood, which is north of Houston, has four advisors, the spokesperson added.
Alongside its headquarters-move, the firm added that it would be expanding its product offering for investors with the launch of a new digital account service, BAM Digital, launched in partnership with BlackRock and Banorte Asset Management.
The platform offers a globally diversified portfolio of options designed by BlackRock available to Banorte’s clients.
Currently, Banorte offers its clients a suite of investment solutions through mutual funds, equities and fixed income products.
