Build America Mutual appointed John White, chairman of the PFM Group, to join the bond insurer's board of directors.
As chief executive officer of PFM for more than 30 years, White played a key role in building its municipal advisory division, Public Financial Management, into the largest independent financial advisor to municipal bond issuers in the United States.
"John White brings a unique combination of municipal market knowledge and experience managing and growing a major financial services company to BAM's Board," Robert Cochran, chairman and managing director for BAM, said in a press release announcing the appointment Wednesday. "We look forward to his perspectives on how we can advance our mission of building BAM into a municipal market utility that serves issuers, dealers, and investors with efficient market access, durable ratings, and enhanced transparency."
In his role on BAM's board, White will represent the interests of the company's municipal members, who are exclusively U.S. public sector issuers of essential-purpose municipal bonds.
Prior to joining PFM in 1980, he held policy-making positions in various aspects of local, state and federal governments, including serving as director of the transition staff when Congressman William Green was elected Mayor of Philadelphia, and later as a transition advisor to Edward G. Rendell, also a BAM director, when he was elected Mayor of Philadelphia in 1991 and Governor of Pennsylvania in 2002.
"BAM's unique mutual ownership structure benefits both issuers and investors with long-term credit security," White said. "BAM's exclusive focus on the US municipal bond market is one of the things that attracted me to the company, and I look forward to working with BAM's experienced leadership to serve even more communities in the future."
White succeeds Hon. Richard G. Ravitch, who left the board in September after he was named to the Federal Oversight Board for Puerto Rico that was established under the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act legislation.
