Bear Stearns Brings in Two Ex-UBS Michigan Education Vets

CHICAGO — Bear, Stearns & Co. has established a public finance banking presence in Michigan with the hiring of two veteran education bankers — Richard L. Allen and David M. Kahn — who lost their Lansing-based jobs with UBS Securities LLC when it shuttered the office late last fall along with other nationwide cuts. The two, along with junior banker Janice Dixon, have longtime ties to education borrowers throughout Michigan from their long tenure as Lansing-based bankers at UBS and previously at the former Everen Securities Inc., which evolved into First Union Securities Inc. UBS established the office early in the decade after First Union halted its municipal business.Allen, 65, and Kahn, 57, have worked as a team for a decade, while Allen and Dixon have worked together for 20 years, Allen said in an interview yesterday. Before becoming an investment banker, Allen was chairman of the financial advisory firm Allen Consultants and deputy director of the Municipal Finance Commission in the state Treasury Department. Kahn previously worked as a teacher, building principal, and communications director for public schools in the state and was the associate executive director of the Michigan Association of School Administrators.Allen and Kahn joined Bear Stearns as managing directors late last month, while Dixon is a junior banker. The group will focus on local school district deals in the state. The group, which sought to remain together, talked to “quite a few firms” and Allen said they chose Bear Stearns because of its stature in public finance. “They are a top-five firm and we were leaving a top-five firm,” he said. “We wanted to stay with someone with a significant presence in the municipal marketplace and a significant array of financial products.”The group reports to Bob Foran, head of public finance. “Both gentlemen bring a wealth of experience and knowledge in the field of educational finance. They will serve as invaluable additions to our team and to our clients,” Foran said in a statement.UBS closed the Lansing office as part of as many as 1,500 layoffs expected through the end of last year in its investment bank as its sought to realign its fixed-income business. Between its cuts and several departures, UBS’ Midwest banking presence has fallen sharply. In addition to closing the Lansing office late last fall, the firm cut Chicago banker Tammie Beckwith. She took a position with PMA Financial Network Inc., based in Warrenville, Ill. Senior general government banker Thomas Coomes and associate director Omar Daghestani quit UBS last year to join Citi while health care banker Jerry Berg joined Morgan Stanley. The only senior bankers remaining include Chicago manager Alex Rorke, transportation specialist Nancy Clawson, and banker T.J. Whitehouse. A source said the firm also has two others that work in the health care sector.UBS last year ranked third in Michigan for school deals with $492 million, down from the previous year’s $677 million and 2005’s $1.2 billion, according to Thomson Financial. The firm ranked eight last year in overall Michigan deals, down from its first place position in 2006. The firm ranked third in the Midwest overall for 2007, down from first place in 2006. Nationally, the firm ranked third, but was the only one in the top 10 to lose volume over its 2006 levels.Bear Stearns ranked fifth last year in senior managed deals in Michigan with $769 million, though it was not ranked in the K-12 sector. The firm ranked fourth in the Midwest overall. The firm also continues to look for a senior banker for its Chicago office. The firm has been without one since the ouster of P. Nicholas Hurtgen in 2005 over allegations that he participated in an extortion scheme involving a Chicago-area hospital. Hurtgen is fighting federal charges related to the allegations.