PORTLAND, Ore., Oct. 22, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- PFM Group, the nation's leading provider of independent financial advisory services to state and local governments and nonprofit organizations, has announced the opening of its 35th office in Portland, Oregon. The office will be run by veteran Oregon public finance professionals Ken Rust and Eric Johansen, who most recently were Chief Administrative Officer and Treasurer, respectively, of the City of Portland. Rust and Johansen both have joined Public Financial Management, Inc. as Directors effective October 19, 2012 and will be in charge of the firm's new downtown Portland office.
"We are delighted to have two executives with Ken and Eric's extensive experience, local and regional knowledge, and outstanding professional reputations join PFM," said John Bonow, PFM Chief Executive Officer. "We have a significant presence and a number of important clients in the Pacific Northwest and our clients will undoubtedly benefit from the perspectives and knowledge that such high caliber professionals add to our client service teams, " he continued. "The addition of an office in Portland will further our ability to serve our broad base of clients in the region. Eric and Ken were both part of the PFM organization early in their careers and they understand our culture of independence, collaboration and an unwavering commitment to our clients," Mr. Bonow added.
Ken Rust served as the Chief Administrative Officer for the City Portland, Oregon, until July 2011, with city-wide responsibilities including direction of the Office of Management and Finance. As CAO, Mr. Rust provided strategic support on all city-wide initiatives, including financial services, technology and communication services, human resources, procurement, facilities management, and license revenue administration, reporting directly to the Mayor and City Council. Prior to this post, Mr. Rust was Chief Financial Officer and Director of the Bureau of Financial Services for the City.
Before joining the City, Mr. Rust was a Senior Managing Consultant at PFM, providing utility finance consulting services to water and sewer utilities throughout the western United States. He began his professional career as an economist with CH2M HILL, where he specialized in utility ratemaking, capital planning, and project feasibility analysis. He is a member of the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada, and served as its President in 2008-09.
Eric Johansen has over 30 years of experience as a debt issuer and advisor in public finance, most of which has focused on the development and implementation of capital financing plans and debt transactions for local governments throughout Oregon and the Northwest. He began at the City of Portland in 1993 and served as the City's Debt Manager from September 1997 until July 2010 when he became Treasurer, a position he held until April 2012. While Treasurer, he directed the City's debt management program, banking services, the investment of City funds and the City's deferred compensation program, including new debt issuance, management of over $3.4 billion in outstanding debt, investment of proceeds, arbitrage rebate compliance, debt budgeting and accounting, rating agency and investor relations and continuing disclosure.
Before joining the City of Portland, he worked as a financial advisor with PFM from 1989 to 1993 and as an investment banker for Shearson Lehman Brothers from 1983 to 1988. Mr. Johansen is the current Chair of the Government Finance Officers Association Committee on Governmental Debt Management after having served two terms as a Committee member. He is a regular instructor of GFOA training courses on subjects relating to debt management and has also served on the Executive Board of the Oregon Municipal Finance Officers Association since March 2009.
The PFM Group of companies includes Public Financial Management, Inc., the top-ranked municipal advisory firm in the nation, providing independent financial advisory services to a broad base of local, state, and regional government and non-profit clients throughout the United States. The firm is known for providing those clients with independent advisory services free of conflicts in their dealings with the capital markets in the fields of General Municipal, Environmental Utilities, Higher Education, Public Power, Transportation, Healthcare, and Management & Budget Consulting, among others. The PFM Group also provides best practices and pension advisory consulting services. For the first nine months of 2012, PFM again led the market by advising clients on $40.8 billion of total debt issuances in 706 transactions. In addition, at September 30, 2012, PFM Asset Management LLC, a part of the PFM Group, had $44.8 billion in assets under management for state and local governments and non-profit institutions, and provided non-discretionary advice for an additional $25.6 billion in fixed income securities. The PFM Group currently employs more than 470 individuals serving a broad base of clients from offices in every region of the country.
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