Crews & Associates

What Crews & Associates does

Crews & Associates, Inc. is a privately held, FINRA-registered broker-dealer and investment bank headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas, operating as a wholly-owned subsidiary of First Security Bancorp (acquired May 2000). Founded in July 1979, the firm operates three integrated business lines: Fixed Income Sales & Trading (tax-exempt and taxable products — municipals, corporates, mortgage-backs, CDs, governments & agencies, and private placements, with average annual trade volume of nearly $60 billion), Capital Markets Financing (negotiated and competitive underwriting, municipal advisory, private placements, and lease financing to governmental and nonprofit issuers), and Investment Services (retail brokerage, retirement, college and income planning, insurance).

The firm's revenue model is built on a mix of transaction fees (underwriting spreads and trading commissions) and professional-services fees (municipal advisory fees via affiliate First Security Municipal Advisors, which serves over 125 clients across the country). Pricing is quote-based and not publicly disclosed; deal economics are driven by issue size, complexity, and negotiation terms. The firm uses an enterprise field-sales motion with dedicated sales teams for municipal trading, taxable trading, and capital markets, plus banker coverage for issuer clients — operating across all 50 states through 20+ offices and a New York rates-trading desk.

The customer base is heavily weighted to public-sector and institutional counterparties: state and local governments, K-12 school districts, higher education institutions, utility districts, healthcare facilities, and nonprofits on the issuance side; institutional investors (investment advisors, bank trusts, credit unions, mutual funds, insurance companies, family offices) and individual investors on the buy side. Underlying technology is a fixed income trading and capital markets platform augmented by in-house credit analysis capabilities and proprietary valuation methods; the firm emphasizes individual-credit analysis to surface value overlooked by competitors. The firm employs nearly 200 people (251-500 firmographic range) and is staffed by deep industry veterans — including CEO Dennis Clay (30+ years, ex-head of sales and trading) and President Jim Jones (co-founder).

Name

Crews & Associates

Legal name

Crews & Associates, Inc.

Website

https://crewsfs.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1979

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

Crews & Associates is a Little Rock, Arkansas-based broker-dealer and investment bank serving governmental, institutional, and individual clients with fixed income sales and trading, municipal capital markets financing, and investment advisory services across all 50 states.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Investment Banking

NAICS

Investment Banking and Securities Intermediation (52315), Securities, Commodity Contracts, and Other Financial Investments and Related Activities (523)

SIC

Security Brokers, Dealers & Flotation Companies (6211), Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

Government Bonds & Agencies (Sovereigns, Supras, Munis) (FSAAAHAA)

Keywords

• Municipal bond underwriting
• Fixed income trading
• Public finance advisory
• Investment banking services
• Capital markets financing

Headquarters

HQ city

Little Rock

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Underwriting Revenue: Revenue generated from serving as underwriter for municipal bond issuances, negotiated and competitive underwriting, and private placements for governmental and nonprofit clients
2. Municipal Advisory Fees: Fees earned from municipal advisory services provided through affiliate First Security Municipal Advisors to over 125 municipal clients
3. Fixed Income Sales and Trading: Commission and spread revenue from sales and trading of tax-exempt and taxable products including municipals, corporates, mortgage-backs, CDs, governments and agencies, and private placements. Average yearly trade volume of nearly $60 billion.
4. Investment Services: Revenue from providing investment services including retirement planning, college planning, income planning, and insurance to individual and institutional clients. Flexible account types including traditional brokerage and fee-based approaches.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Crews & Associates is an investment bank and broker dealer that originates, underwrites, and trades taxable and tax-exempt fixed income products including municipal bonds, corporate bonds, mortgage-backed securities, certificates of deposit, government and agency securities, and private placements. The firm operates three core divisions—Fixed Income Sales & Trading, Investment Services (retirement, college, and income planning plus insurance), and Capital Markets Financing (public finance, municipal advisory, placement agent, negotiated and competitive underwriting, and lease financing)—serving governmental entities, nonprofit organizations, institutional investors, and individual investors. An affiliated municipal advisory firm, First Security Municipal Advisors, Inc., serves over 125 municipal clients through the brands Crews Municipal Advisors, First Security Beardsley, and Phoenix Advisors.

Product overview

Crews & Associates is a financial services firm offering a unified suite of investment banking and advisory services organized into three core divisions: Fixed Income Sales & Trading (municipal and corporate bonds, mortgage-backs, CDs, governments & agencies, private placements), Investment Services (retirement planning, college planning, insurance, and managed investments), and Capital Markets Financing (public finance, municipal advisory, and bond issuance). The firm also operates First Security Municipal Advisors, Inc. as an affiliate brand serving municipal advisory needs. These services work together to connect borrowing clients needing capital with investing clients seeking fixed income products, functioning as a bridge between capital markets financing and fixed income sales and trading.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Fixed Income Sales & Trading
• Investment Services
• Capital Markets Financing
• First Security Municipal Advisors, Inc.

Quantifiable outcome

• Average yearly trade volume of nearly $60 billion in fixed income
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers20 records

Segments7 records

Ideal customer profiles6 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• First Security Municipal Advisors, Inc.coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAffiliate municipal advisory firm doing business as Crews Municipal Advisors, First Security Beardsley, and Phoenix Advisors. Provides municipal advisory services to over 125 clients as part of the Crews ecosystem.
• First Security BeardsleycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMulti-brand municipal advisory firm brand operating as part of First Security Municipal Advisors. Serves as Crews' school advisory group, having worked on over 500 Arkansas school bond issues totaling over $2 billion.
• Phoenix AdvisorsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerBrand within the First Security Municipal Advisors network, providing additional municipal advisory capabilities alongside Crews Municipal Advisors.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Hilltop Securities: Wholly-owned subsidiary of Hilltop Holdings providing municipal underwriting, public finance, fixed income sales and trading, and investment services. Direct competitor to Crews in the mid-market municipal bond space with similar institutional and government client bases.
• Piper Sandler: Mid-market investment bank with a substantial public finance practice serving state and local governments. Directly comparable to Crews in municipal underwriting, fixed income sales and trading, and institutional brokerage.
• Stifel Financial: Diversified mid-market broker-dealer with a large public finance and municipal securities practice. Competes directly with Crews in municipal bond underwriting and fixed income institutional sales.
• Robert W. Baird: Mid-market investment bank and broker-dealer with public finance capabilities serving governmental and institutional clients. Direct competitor in the regional municipal bond and fixed income markets.
• D.A. Davidson: Employee-owned regional broker-dealer with public finance and fixed income trading divisions serving institutional and government clients. Comparable to Crews in size and municipal bond focus.
• FHN Financial: Fixed income division of First Horizon National Bank providing municipal bond sales, trading, and underwriting. Direct competitor in institutional fixed income and municipal securities markets.

Broad incumbents

• Wells Fargo: Large national bank with a significant municipal finance practice and institutional fixed income operations. Competes with Crews on larger negotiated deals and institutional client coverage but offers a much broader product portfolio.
• JPMorgan Chase: Bulge-bracket investment bank with dominant municipal bond underwriting and fixed income trading operations. Overlaps with Crews in institutional fixed income clients and government issuer relationships but operates at vastly larger scale.
• Morgan Stanley: Global investment bank with a major public finance and municipal securities business. Competes in institutional fixed income sales and trading and large municipal issuances where Crews is less competitive.
• Goldman Sachs: Bulge-bracket investment bank with significant municipal underwriting and fixed income divisions. Operates at much larger scale than Crews but competes for the same institutional and government clients.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/CrewsAssociates
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/crews-&-associates

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles38 records

Subsidiaries3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Crews & Associates