Chad Abraham serves as the chief executive officer of Piper Jaffray and is a member of the firm's board of directors.

Abraham joined the firm in 1991 as an investment banking analyst. He spent the next 13 years on the West Coast as a banker in the company's technology investment banking group. He was promoted to managing director and head of technology investment banking in 1999. In 2005, Abraham was promoted to head of capital markets and in 2010, he became the global co-head of investment banking and capital markets.

Under the leadership of Abraham and co-head Scott LaRue, the firm's investment banking division grew revenues from approximately $150 million to more than $500 million. They established coverage in energy and financial services, expanded debt capital markets capabilities and added key offices and personnel.

Abraham serves on the board of trustees of the Nature Conservancy’s Minnesota, South Dakota and North Dakota chapter and the board of trustees of The Blake School. He graduated from Northwestern University with a bachelor’s degree in economics and political science.

Deb Schoneman serves as the president of Piper Jaffray. She joined the firm in 1990 in the accounting department, and has held several senior management positions, including global head of equities, chief financial officer, finance director of both equity and fixed income capital markets, and treasurer.

Schoneman is on the Allina Health board, serving as chair of the finance committee and a member of the audit committee. She is also on the board of BestPrep, a nonprofit organization focused on business, career and financial literacy skills, having served as chair for two years. She has completed two mission trips to Haiti through the organization, Healing Haiti, and was awarded "CFO of the Year" by the Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal in 2014.

Schoneman earned a bachelor’s degree in finance from Minnesota State University Mankato and a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of St. Thomas in Minneapolis.

Tim Carter is the chief financial officer of Piper Jaffray. In this role, he is responsible for managing the firm’s treasury, accounting, market and credit risk and the financial planning & analysis function. Carter joined the firm in 1995 and has held various finance positions including senior vice president of finance, controller, chief accounting officer and treasurer. During his time at Piper Jaffray, Carter has been a key participant in multiple strategic corporate development actions that have helped shape the firm.

Prior to joining Piper Jaffray, Carter worked in public accounting at Deloitte.

Carter graduated from Gustavus Adolphus College with a bachelor’s degree in accounting and is a licensed CPA. He serves on the board of College Possible Minnesota and was previously board chair.

Christine Esckilsen is the chief human capital officer at Piper Jaffray. She sits on the firm’s leadership team and oversees human capital, marketing and communications, meetings and events, community relations, travel and real estate. She focuses on strategic initiatives, including acquisitions, and works to further organizational effectiveness, employee development and the firm’s overall culture. Esckilsen also serves as the in-house employment lawyer. She is a member of the firm’s diversity and inclusion council.

Esckilsen worked as in-house counsel for Piper Jaffray prior to the firm's spin-off from U.S. Bancorp in 2003. From 1995 to 2002, Esckilsen was in private practice at Littler Mendelson in California.

Esckilsen has served on the board of directors of Catholic Charities of St. Paul and Minneapolis since January of 2016. She is currently a chair of the governance committee. Additionally, she served on the board of directors for MAP for Nonprofits from 2010 to 2015 and chaired the board in 2015.

Esckilsen received a bachelor's degree in English and Spanish from Michigan State University and a Juris doctorate from the University of Michigan. She is a member of the bar associations of the states of California and Minnesota.

Frank Fairman is head of Piper Jaffray public finance services where he oversees the firm’s public finance activities, as well as the municipal derivative business. He has held this position since 1991 and is a member of the firm’s executive leadership team. He joined Piper Jaffray in 1983 as an investment banker in public finance. Prior to that, Fairman started his career as a consultant at Arthur Andersen & Co.

Fairman holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics from Yale University and a Master of Business Administration degree with a concentration in finance from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Fairman is a member of the municipal executive committee of SIFMA. He is also a member of the board of directors for Landmark College in Putney, Vt.; a founding board member of Beyond Walls, a Minnesota-based nonprofit; and a former board member of the Twin Cities chapter of the American Red Cross.

John Geelan is general counsel and secretary of Piper Jaffray Companies, a position he has held since 2012. He serves on the firm’s executive leadership team, and is general counsel and secretary of Piper Jaffray & Co., the firm’s primary broker-dealer subsidiary. Geelan joined Piper Jaffray in 2005 as assistant general counsel, responsible for managing the corporate secretary function and working with the board of directors and senior management across a number of areas, including governance, public company reporting, corporate development and treasury.

Prior to joining Piper Jaffray, Geelan was in private practice at Faegre & Benson LLP, where he worked in the corporate finance group for four years.

Geelan is a member of the board of governors of the University of St. Thomas Law School. He earned a bachelor’s degree in economics and music from the University of St. Thomas and a Juris doctorate from the University of Notre Dame Law School.

Scott LaRue is the global head of investment banking and capital markets at Piper Jaffray. Prior to assuming his current responsibilities, LaRue was based in Hong Kong, where he served as global co-head of the consumer and industrials investment banking groups. LaRue joined Piper Jaffray in 2003 and has spent much of his career covering the consumer sector, ultimately serving as co-head of Piper Jaffray consumer investment banking. LaRue was also a founding member and continues to serve on the investment committee for Piper Jaffray merchant banking group. In the course of LaRue’s 25 years in the investment banking industry, he has completed numerous transactions across a wide range of industries including packaged goods, food and beverage, agribusiness, retailing, real estate, gaming, lodging and diversified industrials. His extensive background in corporate finance includes mergers and acquisitions, public stock offerings, leveraged finance, asset securitizations and public and private debt offerings.

Prior to joining Piper Jaffray, LaRue led the food and beverage industry team at CSFB/DLJ, where he was the firm’s senior consumer product banker on the West Coast. Before that, he was a managing director at Bank of America Securities.

LaRue is a graduate of the University of Southern California.

Shawn Quant is the chief information officer for Piper Jaffray Companies and chief operating officer for Piper Jaffray Investment Management. He is responsible for the strategic direction and management of the firm’s business information systems, trading and technology infrastructure, global securities clearance and settlement, and middle office. Quant also serves as chief operating officer for Piper Jaffray Investment Management.

Prior to joining Piper Jaffray in 2004, Quant was a consultant working with financial services clients on system conversions, operations efficiency assessments, technology platform selection and strategic planning. He has also held positions in operations and information technology with American Express Financial Advisors, Norwest Investment Services and Wells Fargo Brokerage Services, and was chief information officer for a regional broker dealer providing retail, institutional and correspondent clearing services.

Quant earned a bachelor’s degree from St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minn.

Tom Schnettler is vice chairman of Piper Jaffray Companies, and managing director in the merchant banking group. In his merchant banking role, Schnettler serves as co-CEO of PJC Capital Partners LLC, the registered investment adviser to the Piper Jaffray merchant banking private funds. He initiated the merchant banking business at Piper Jaffray in 2008 and has overseen the division since that time. Schnettler also served as president and chief operating officer of Piper Jaffray from 2008 to 2011, and as chief financial officer between 2006 and 2008. Prior to that, Schnettler served as head of the Piper Jaffray corporate and institutional services business beginning in 2002, and as head/co-head of investment banking beginning in 2000. From 1989 to 2000, he co-founded and led the healthcare investment banking group. Schnettler joined the Piper Jaffray investment banking group in 1986.

Schnettler has served on the board of, or held board observation responsibility for the following portfolio companies: Torax Medical, Vitals, OrthoAccel and Sport Ngin. Over the course of his career he has served many not-for-profit organizations including Saint John’s University, The Lillehei Heart Institute at the University of Minnesota, Catholic Charities of St. Paul and Minneapolis and the American Heart Association.

Schnettler graduated from Saint John’s University in Collegeville, Minnesota and holds a Juris doctorate from Harvard Law School.

Tom Smith is the chief strategy officer of Piper Jaffray, responsible for overseeing corporate development and investor relations. In his role, he leads corporate strategic planning and execution of development initiatives. Smith joined Piper Jaffray in 1998, covering software, internet & media, and semiconductors as an investment banker in the technology group.

Prior to Piper Jaffray, Smith was vice president of business development at Waste Management International, where he led its entry into the Asian markets. Before joining Waste Management, Smith was with Santa Fe International, where he engaged in M&A, joint venture formation and new market development.

Smith is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame and the American Graduate School of International Management.

Brad Winges serves in a number of roles, including head of Piper Jaffray fixed income services, head of Piper Jaffray firm investments and trading, and president of Piper Jaffray Investment Management, LLC. In these separate roles, Winges is responsible for overseeing fixed income institutional sales, trading and underwriting; the firm’s portfolio management, trading and investment strategies; and the execution of advisory strategies and services performed by Piper Jaffray Investment Management, LLC (“PJIM”), a Piper Jaffray-registered investment advisory affiliate.

Winges joined Piper Jaffray in 1991 in municipal institutional sales and was appointed head of municipal sales, trading and underwriting in 2003. He has served in his current role as head of Piper Jaffray fixed income services since 2005. In 2011, Winges assumed the additional role as president of PJIM and also became head of Piper Jaffray firm investments in 2015.

Winges served as chairman of the Bond Dealers of America from 2013 – 2015 and currently serves on the executive committee. He is also a board member for Gillette Children’s Specialty Care. Prior to joining Piper Jaffray, he was a member of the Chicago Board of Trade and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.

Winges graduated from the University of Wisconsin Madison with a bachelor’s degree in economics.

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