BMO Capital Markets, the investment and corporate banking arm of BMO Financial Group (NYSE, TSX: BMO), has hired Wayne Hood, a 23-year Wall Street veteran to the firm’s U.S. Equity Research group.

Based in Atlanta, Hood will cover Broadline Retail stocks with a focus on general merchandise companies. He is joined by associate Phillip Juhan and both become part of the firm’s Consumer & Leisure team.

“We’re proud to have Wayne join our growing research group, as we continue to strengthen our Consumer franchise,” said Jack Blackstock, Director of U.S. Equity Research, BMO Capital Markets. “Wayne has one of the most recognized names in retail equity research, and he enjoys a reputation for developing insightful and actionable investment ideas, which fits perfectly with the objectives of our Equities business.”

Hood has more than 23 years of investment experience, including 20 years as a sell-side research analyst at Prudential Equity Group. During his last 10 years at Prudential, Mr. Hood was ranked eight times on Institutional Investor’s All-America Research Team.

From 1996 through 2004, The Wall Street Journal ranked Mr. Hood 10 times for either stock picking or earnings accuracy and he was named to The Wall Street Journal’s “Best of The Street Hall of Fame” in 2004 for stock selection.

Most recently, Hood was a portfolio manager of Masters/ Hood Capital, an Atlanta-based investment firm he founded in 2006. He earned a BSBA in Finance at the University of Louisville in Kentucky. He currently serves on the Department of Urology’s Advisory Board at Emory University’s School of Medicine.