CHICAGO — Seeking to cement its foothold on Midwestern business, the New Jersey-based financial advisory firm Acacia Financial Group Inc. has opened a Chicago office and hired veteran public finance banker Courtney Shea to lead the firm's efforts in Illinois.
Shea's hiring marks the firm's first major physical expansion westward and the culmination of several years' worth of work during which Acacia's team of roughly 14 professionals sought to carve out a chunk of business in Illinois and neighboring states by participating in the competitive processes held by governments.
"We actively started looking at the market there in 2007, and in 2008 started responding to request for proposals," said Acacia's co-president Noreen White, who joined with Kim Whelan to found the company in 2006. "When we started getting on these lists, it got to the point where it just made sense to have someone out there, and I feel we were really lucky to get Courtney. She's a veteran of this industry, with a great depth and breadth of knowledge about Chicago and Illinois — the whole Midwest."
The firm worked as an adviser to Wisconsin's tobacco restructuring last year and has joined the pool of advisers used by the Regional Transportation Authority of Illinois and the state of Illinois. The firm worked on Illinois' recent Build Illinois sale.
The new Chicago office adds to three existing offices, two in New Jersey and one in Ohio, that were established when Acacia was founded. . The firm serves as an adviser to the treasurer's office and the Ohio Public Facilities Commission. The firm employs a total of 14, including about 10 professional advisers.
Acacia's rankings reflect its efforts over the last year, rising to ninth place among advisers in the Midwest from 45th a year earlier, according to Thomson Reuters. The firm ranked ninth last year and ninth so far this year in its home region of the Northeast, and 12th nationally so far this year, up from 19th in 2008.
"From day one, we've built Acacia with the philosophy of assigning A-players to every client and project," Whelan said. "Courtney fits right in, adding substantial depth to our credentials and bolstering our presence in the Midwest. And we're also a certified women-owned business, so as a founding board member of Woman in Public Finance, she's a seamless extension of our team and values."
Shea resigned from her banking position with Siebert Brandford Shank & Co. in early 2008, spending the last two years traveling and then launching and selling an engineering company. She was weighing her next professional move when White approached her about heading up a new regional office for Acacia.
Though Shea was not initially looking to return to public finance, she said she was swayed by the firm's business model and the shift to advisory work. "You have a constituency of one — the government unit you are working for and trying to do good for — and at the end of the day, that was very appealing," Shea said.
Shea also liked the fact that the firm is a small, women-owned company, much like Artemis Capital Group Inc. where she spent six years as a principal. She left Kemper Securities Inc. to open an office in Chicago for Artemis in 1992. The firm was later acquired by RBC Capital Markets Inc. Before joining Siebert, Shea worked as a banker at Citi and later managed the public finance banking group at the former LaSalle Capital Markets.
Shea's relationship with White dates back to White's days as a banker at the former Bear Stearns & Co. "It's a great opportunity to join a company with such depth that is led by executives that are consummate professionals," she said.
White said the firm may add to its Chicago's office and is considering establishing a physical presence in several other markets, though no decisions have been made. The firm has kept especially busy over the last year due to the federal stimulus package, White said, with more work coming from both existing clients and new ones.
The firm was established by two former rivals for New Jersey-area advisory business. White folded her staff at another firm she founded, Municipal Advisory Partners Inc., into the new company and was joined by Whelan, who had been a managing director at Public Financial Management and led their New Jersey office after running her own firm.
