HSBC has hired a senior banker to focus on mid-market M&A deals, as large investment banks increasingly focus on smaller transactions amid a downturn in dealmaking.

The bank has hired Robin Brown as a managing director within its mid-market M&A team, an initiative that straddles its investment banking unit with its vast commercial banking network. He joins from family-owned investment bank Stephens, where he headed its technology team and has also worked at BDO Corporate Finance.