Friend of Rahm: PFM Group buys rival from new Chicago finance chief

PFM Group, owner of the largest investment adviser in the U.S. municipal bond market, bought a smaller competitor co-owned by Lois Scott, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s new chief financial officer.

Scott Balice Strategies, a financial adviser in Chicago, was started in 2003 by Dean Balice and Scott, who becomes CFO of the third most-populous U.S. city. Balice remains as head of the company, now a PFM Group subsidiary, according to a statement today from the Philadelphia-based company.

“The contribution of their talented group can only help solidify PFM’s position as a national leader in municipal advisory, public/private partnerships and investment management,” F. John White, chief executive officer, said in the statement.

The move will help PFM Group, the parent of advisory firm Public Financial Management, expand in the U.S. Midwest. Balice also will start and lead a corporate advisory service, the company said. Emanuel was sworn in as mayor today, replacing Richard M. Daley in the first transition of City Hall power in 22 years. Emanuel and Scott, who was picked in April, face an estimated $587 million budget deficit in the coming fiscal year.

Scott, who spent 20 years in public finance and government before starting Scott Balice, is severing all ties to the firm, PFM Group said. At City Hall, she will replace Gene Saffold, a former managing director for national accounts at New York-based JPMorgan Chase & Co. appointed by Daley in March 2009.

Public Financial Management was ranked first in proceeds among U.S. municipal advisers in the first quarter by Thomson Reuters. The unit advised on 988 transactions involving $57.5 billion last year, the company says on its website.

— Bloomberg News