Our History
HJ Sims has lived and breathed the bond market since 1935. In bull markets and bear; through booms, bubbles and busts, we have demonstrated our exceptional expertise.
A Legacy of Progress
I guess you could say bond investing
is in my blood.
WILLIAM B. SIMS, Managing Principal
In the midst of the Great Depression, a man with no prior Wall Street knowledge opened a one room investment office with money borrowed from an influential venture capitalist — his mom. Herb was determined to learn everything he could about bonds. The start-up focused on credit-driven research on higher yielding instruments. His passion paid off: He identified high-yield instruments that delivered while others defaulted. Thus began the legend.
Today, the company my father founded is celebrated for excellence in private wealth management, fixed income securities and investment banking. We are dedicated to the success of numerous start-ups and other thriving ventures. We invest in and finance a variety of projects essential to our communities, including senior living campuses, federally insured hospitals and fast-growing charter schools, to name a few.
We are proud of our pioneering and entrepreneurial roots as well as the innovative approaches and tools we have brought to the markets throughout the years. Inspired by our founder, my father, our wealth management, banking, institutional and trading professionals continually advance solutions that help our clients build wealth, achieve their financial goals and enrich the lives of those most dear to them.


History Timeline

Herbert J. Sims & Company is established on Wall Street
HJ Sims becomes a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Broker-Dealer and a member of the National Association of Securities Dealers (now Financial Industry Regulatory Authority - FINRA)

HJ Sims underwrites its first tax-exempt hospital bond

Merrill Lynch, Salomon Brothers and Eastman Dillon join forces with HJ Sims to finance over $1.5 billion in hospital issues
Long-term care bond issues underwritten by HJ Sims are purchased by bond funds and insurance companies

HJ Sims moves its headquarters to Westport, Connecticut

HJ Sims offers its first private placement, a MatchCap℠ for Canterbury Woods in New York

HJ Sims underwrites its first solely managed offering in excess of $100 million - the Episcopal Home Foundation in San Francisco, California.

HJ Sims opens Rockville, Maryland office

LeadingAge hires HJ Sims to refinance its debt

HJ Sims provides $457 million financing for start-up CCRC and replacement nursing facility project outside of Boston, Massachusetts – the largest senior living project ever financed in the US at that time

HJ Sims relocates corporate headquarters to Fairfield, Connecticut

HJ Sims opens a branch specialized in fixed income investing in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico

HJ Sims expands the Rockville, Maryland office

HJ Sims executes a $236,300,000 financing for NewBridge on the Charles in Dedham, Massachusetts – the largest fixed rate public bond issue in 2017.

HJ Sims expands office in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico

HJ Sims recognizes the potential for rebuilding America’s infrastructure, using high yield tax-exempt bonds to refinance county roads in Florida

HJ Sims underwrites high-yield bonds to finance natural gas systems in Georgia

HJ Sims underwrites the first municipal bond to finance a long-term care community

Sims Mortgage Funding, Inc. establishes and commences operation as an FHA-approved lender

LeadingAge, formerly AAHSA, selects HJ Sims as a preferred banker

HJ Sims’ investment banking location opens in Orlando, Florida

HJ Sims opens northern New Jersey office

HJ Sims opens Boca Raton, Florida office

HJ Sims underwrites its first charter school

Entrance fee principal redemption bonds, a new concept in financing, is introduced by HJ Sims with its underwriting of Ingleside at King Farm in Maryland

HJ Sims opens Minnesota office

HJ Sims opens Austin, Texas office

HJ Sims opens an investment banking location in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

HJ Sims opens Charlotte, North Carolina office

HJ Sims expands office in Boca Raton, Florida

2020 - HJ Sims Opens offices in Jupiter, FL, California and Illinois
HJ Sims History

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