SAN FRANCISCO — Financial advisory firm KNN Public Finance announced a new office in Los Angeles and the hiring of longtime public finance professional Mark Young to staff it.
It's the second office the Oakland, Calif.-based firm has opened in Southern California this year.
David Leifer, senior managing director, said the firm has a number of clients in Southern California, and the addition of Young will help to increase its service to the region.
"We are excited to open an LA office with Mark at the helm to expand our presence in Southern California," Leifer said. "This represents our second new office in Southern California this year, following the January opening of an Irvine office, which focuses on school finance."
Young, who brings over 29 years of experience serving municipalities in California, will join the firm as managing director. He has worked on over $30 billion worth of transactions in short and long-term debt.
His experience includes serving both as financial advisor and investment banker. Most recently, he served as a managing director and co-head of the Western Region for Loop Capital Markets.
Young was a principal at the financial advisory firm of Gardner, Underwood & Bacon LLC until Loop acquired the firm in 2011.
His clients have included the counties of Los Angeles, San Bernardino, and San Diego, and the cities of Los Angeles, San Diego, Long Beach, and Manhattan Beach.
He has also worked with Los Angeles Unified School Districts, the Port of Los Angeles, and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.
Young received his bachelor's degree in economics, with departmental honors, from the University of California, Berkeley.
"The opportunity to return to the financial advisory world and to practice at a firm with KNN's experience, reputation and high-quality service is truly exciting," Young said. "I look forward to continuing my relationship with existing clients as well as expanding the business in Southern California."
The firm also announced a Northern California hire, bringing in another experienced public finance professional, Erwin Tam, as a vice president in its Oakland headquarters.
Tam, who brings 13 years of experience to KNN, started his public finance career as a financial advisor at Public Financial Management. He later worked for Bear Stearns, RBC Capital Markets, and Backstrom McCarley Berry & Co.
"We're fortunate to have Erwin join our team of experienced advisors," said Leifer. "He brings strong quantitative and financial modeling skills and has worked with a breadth of issuers including K-12 school districts, community college districts, cities and special districts."
KNN Public Finance, a division of Zions National Bank, has 16 employees in its Oakland, Irvine and Los Angeles offices.
