More turnover at Janney Montgomery Scott

John "Jordie" Maine

is out as executive vice president-head of capital markets, one of the firm's three top executives, at

Janney Montgomery Scott

, as turnover continues at the largest stock brokerage/investment bank based in Philadelphia.

Janney confirmed Maine's departure Monday, five days after I reported it on my blog at Philly.com, citing industry sources. Calls to Maine's homes in Wyndmoor and Cape May were not returned.

A sales executive when he was at Citigroup and other Wall Street banks, an avid yachtsman who played football and other sports at Princeton University and Chestnut Hill Academy, Maine moved to Janney in 2008 and then was given a mandate to build a stronger investment banking group to focus on the often-lucrative business of selling and financing client companies and taking them public.

But Janney, which is owned by Horsham-based Penn Mutual Life Insurance Co., has had a tough go landing a lot of lucrative deals, at a time when even some of the big Wall Street banks have been cutting back deal staff.

Maine has not been replaced, Janney spokeswoman Karen Shakoske said. That leaves Maine's former responsibilities split among three former subordinates: Will Corkhill, head of equity capital markets; Mark McCulloh, head of equity distribution; and Nick Lampone, head of sales trading.

Separately, Janney managing director and retail analyst David Strasser has left to join SWaN & Legend Venture Partners, a Leesburg, Va.-based investment firm.

Strasser is the latest in a string of analysts to leave since previous equity research director Gary Schatz was let go in December. His successor, Andrew Maddaloni, has replaced many of the departed stock-watchers, as Janney refocuses its research and banking efforts on small and mid-size health-care, media-tech, regional utilities, energy, consumer, and finance companies.

At least eight Janney investment-banking professionals left the company earlier this year following the departure of Christopher White, former head of investment banking, to join a Connecticut health-care buyout firm.

Like other regional players, Janney has struggled to win its share of regional and national deal business in the face of strong competition.

Some of Janney's critics have privately criticized Penn Mutual for squeezing profits from Janney instead of investing more in the business (and paying bankers fatter bonuses). The customer-owned insurer says it has overseen investment banking carefully and appropriately.

Janney's stock-brokerage arm, by contrast with the banking group, expanded during the bull market of the last few years, due at least partly to broker acquisitions. The company employs about 1,850 nationally, including more than 500 in Philadelphia.