EVEREN Securities, Inc., the largest Chicago-based securities firm, is the nation's 20th largest majority employee-owned company of any kind. With its regional roots dating back 90 years, the firm has grown to have 3,400 employees in 140 branch offices in 27 states, including more than 1,100 registered representatives. The firm has nearly 450,000 customer accounts and $36.7 billion of assets under management.
EVEREN claims to combine the capital markets resources of a large national firm with the personalized service of a smaller firm. Focusing on educating the client, the firm seeks to build long-term relationships with its individual, corporate, and institutional customers to best meet their specific investment needs, according to its sales managers.
EVEREN Capital Corp., the firm's parent company, was established in 1995, after Kemper Corp.'s divestiture of its securities brokerage segment in a transaction that sold ownership to its employees.
Charles J. Paviolitis, Executive Vice President, Director of Municipal Securities
EVEREN Securities Inc. will be looking toward the Midwest in 1996 for its retail and institutional clients' investment needs in municipal bonds, according to Charles J. Paviolitis, executive vice president and director of municipal securities.
"One area we're focusing on is Ohio, Indiana, Wisconsin, and Michigan," Paviolitis said. "Statistics for 1995 showed that those states in the aggregate have had an increase in issuance since 1994. So we think the Midwest offers growth potential at this point in time."
Low yields, a highly profitable stock market, and the specter of flat- tax have made finding buyers for municipal bonds a difficult task on a daily basis, Paviolitis said.
The stigma of Orange County, Calif. may have hurt the market in 1995, but the marketplace has become more aware of potential problems that could lead to another financial disaster, Paviolitis said.
In one response, investment firms are providing more information to their municipal buyers, and this has contributed to a more competitive marketplace, Paviolitis said.
"Customers have become more sophisticated and knowledgeable about what they're buying and have demanded a greater level of expertise from the people that they're buying municipals from," he said. "As a consequence, there's greater competition for the retail investment dollar."
This competitive atmosphere means that EVEREN Securities has redoubled its concentration on meeting its clients' investment objectives, Paviolitis said.
"Our plan is to stay focused on a day-to-day basis and communicate with each other," he said.
Professional:
1993 - Present, Executive Vice President and Manager, Municipal Securities, EVEREN Securities Inc.
1989 to 1993, Senior Vice President and Manager, Municipal Commitments
1989 to 1989, Vice President and Manager, Municipal Trading, Raymond James & Associates, Inc.
1980 to 1989, Manager, Municipal Bond Department, Drexel Burnham Lambert Inc.
Education:
B.A. in Government, Manhattan College, 1980
Terry Ethier, Senior Vice President and Director of Capital Markets
To counteract slow growth in municipal retail sales in 1995, EVEREN Securities, Inc. has intensified its on-going campaign to educate clients, according to Terry Ethier, senior vice president and the firm's director of capital markets.
In response to investors' latest concerns, the focus of this effort has been getting out the message that municipals are really are an attractive investment at the moment - and also informing them about how they would be affected under the different flat tax proposals currently circulating.
"We put out a special report last December, 'Tax Reform - Continuing Implications for the Municipal Investor,' for our clients," Ethier said. "The piece was so popular that in the first week it was in reprint."
Ethier believes EVEREN - which has trading desks in Chicago, San Francisco, Denver, Houston and Kansas City - will see renewed interest in municipals once the stock market cools down and Washington makes up its mind about the flat tax.
"When we have an idea where things are going, you'll see people coming back into the market place," she said.
Despite the forces that could hold the market back, Ethier doubted that there would be a lack of demand for municipal bonds in 1996.
"There's definitely a demand for these investments," she said.
"Certainly there will be challenges in directing people's attention to munis, especially if the stock market continues to boom. But educating the public meets the needs of our clients as well as our investment consultants."
Professional:
1995 - Present, Senior Vice President and Director of Capital Markets, EVEREN Securities Inc.
1993-1995, Head of Fixed Income Marketing, Kemper Securities, Inc.
1991-1993, Head of National Municipal Marketing
1987-1991, Vice President in charge of National Municipal Marketing, Prudential Securities Inc.
1977-1987, Vice President in charge of National Municipal Marketing, Shearson Lehman Brothers Inc.
1972-1975, Municipal Liaison, Dean Witter Reynolds Inc.
Education:
B.S., University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1970
Craig A. Noble, Senior Vice-President and Director of Tax-Exempt Fixed Income Retail Sales and Trading
Fears about a flat tax have prompted investors to shorten up their portfolios during the past year, according to Craig A. Noble, senior vice president and director of retail municipal sales and trading at EVEREN Securities, Inc.
Buyers are now concentrating on bonds with five or six year maturities instead of the much longer maturities they generally preferred in the past, he said.
"In 1995, everybody's business changed," Noble said. "We used to sell predominantly long-term bonds to retail investors because that's where the yield was. Now, since people don't know what's going to happen, our clients have definitely switched to the short end of the yield curve."
With 1,100 brokers in 27 states, EVEREN Securities runs the gamut from serving Beverly Hills stars to farmers in the Midwest, with California and the Midwest being the prime areas for business.
At the core of EVEREN's approach is making sure clients and brokers communicate directly.
"You have a much better chance of talking to real person than having to do all your trades from a computer," Noble said.
Looking forward, the outcome of the 1996 presidential election will be critical to the bond industry, Noble said.
"Other firms may be treating the flat tax like it's not going to happen, but in my personal opinion, it depends on who gets elected," Noble said. If Clinton is re-elected, then the flat-tax won't be as much in the forefront as it would if Dole, Graham, or Forbes get elected."
Noble said he believes a flat tax would level the playing field for investments.
"If a flat tax passes, everything is going to be a tax-advantaged investment because they all are going to have the same tax status," he said. "So you're going to have to make this choice whether your going to buy treasuries at 7% or a double A-rated muni at 7.5%."
Professional:
1994 - Present, Senior Vice-President and Director of Tax-Exempt Fixed Income Retail Sales and Trading, EVEREN Securities, Inc
1993, Vice President and Manager of Municipal Bonds (California)
1991-1993, Vice President and Manager of Retail Sales and Trading (Western Region), Lehman Brothers
1982-1991, Manager of Municipal Bond and Trading Liaison, Shearson Lehman Hutton Inc.
1981-1982, Investment Broker, E.F. Hutton & Co.
Education:
M.B.A., New York University, 1986
B.S. in Business, Hofstra University, 1976
