Jim Ackor Joins Sterne Agee

Birmingham, AL, (July 17, 2008) –Jim Ackor has joined Sterne Agee’s Equity Research Financial Institutions Group (FIG). 

Ackor is a Senior Vice President and Senior Research Analyst and will initially be covering the Agency REIT and Mortgage finance sectors. 

Prior to joining Sterne Agee, Ackor was a Senior Equity Analyst covering similar areas along with BDCs and thrifts & banks at RBC Capital Markets (and its predecessor, Tucker Anthony, Inc.). Prior to joining Tucker Anthony, Ackor worked at Moran Asset Management and the Hamilton Standard unit of United Technologies. 

Ackor received a BS with a concentration in Finance and Information Systems at the University of Maine and a MBA at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Founded in 1901, Sterne Agee is one of the oldest and largest privately-owned brokerage firms in the country. A member of the New York Stock Exchange, Sterne Agee has headquarters in Birmingham, Alabama, and offices in 23 states. For more information, visit www.sterneagee.com.

For more information contact:

Leah McKinney

Senior Vice President

205.949.3564

lmckinney@sterneagee.com