Richmond investment bank launches health care group

Richmond-based investment bank Matrix Capital Markets Group Inc. announced Wednesday it has established the Matrix Healthcare Banking Group, which will focus on health care subsectors.

The industry group will be led by Amanda Verner Thompson and Vasanta B. Pundarika, who joined the firm as managing directors and co-heads of the new group. Their focus will be on investments in hospitals, health care systems, behavioral health organizations, managed care companies, telemedicine providers, dialysis, urgent care, laboratories and long-term care.

“We are thrilled to join Matrix to build and grow the health care group on top of the firm’s strong foundation of providing transaction, advisory and valuation services over the past 30 years,” Pundarika said in a statement. 

In their new roles, Pundarika and Thompson will oversee new client engagement, transaction management and the group’s expansion. Both were most recently directors of the Raymond James & Associates health care finance group, where they led behavioral health and managed care advisory efforts. They joined Raymond James in 2012 following the acquisition of Morgan Keegan and joined Morgan Keegan in 2007 with the acquisition of health care investment bank Shattuck Hammond Partners.

“We are delighted to be part of a firm where health care investment banking is an essential element and focus,” Thompson said in a statement. “Our clients will benefit from Matrix’s unwavering focus and energy in providing creative, objective and independent advisory services.”

Thompson earned her bachelor’s degree in biology from Duke University and Pundarika earned her bachelor’s degree in anthropology from Princeton University. Founded in 1988, Matrix Capital Markets Group is a private investment bank headquartered in Richmond with offices in Baltimore and Chicago. It provides merger and acquisition and financial advisory services to both private and public companies.

“We are very excited to welcome Vasanta and Amanda to Matrix to lead the expansion of our services into the health care sector,” Matrix President Tom Kelso said in a statement. “This is a very important step in continuing to broaden our industry reach and drive growth at Matrix.”

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