R. Fenn Putman said yesterday he has resigned as managing director and executive vice president at Dean Witter Reynolds to become managing director at Lehman Brothers.
Mr. Putman said his new position would be much like his job at Dean Witter, where he focused on building client relationships and managing the public finance department.
Lehman's new executive said he decided to leave Dean Witter after accomplishing his goal of beefing up the firm's public finance ranks and positioning them to continue building on recent gains in market share.
In 1987, when Mr. Putman joined Dean Witter, the firm ranked 23d among senior managers, with $1 billion in municipal business, according to Bond Buyer/Securities Data Co. By last year, Dean Witter had moved up to a ranking of 11, with $3.4 billion to its credit.
"We've moved Dean Witter into a real good position, and I think it's time to let some other forces take over and run with the ball from here," Mr. Putman said.
Richard Bain, a managing director at Lehman, said Mr. Putman will play a major role in both client development efforts and managing the department. "We'll use him everywhere and anywhere," Mr. Bain said.
Prior to assuming his position at Dean Witter, Mr. Putman worked at Salomon Brothers as a senior banker. When that firm shut down its municipal department in October 1987, laying off about 200 of the department's employees, Mr. Putman and John Donovan, another senior banker, took about 25 associates to Dean Witter.
At that time, many municipal securities firms were slashing their work force or retreating from the regions because of dwindling volume, intense competition, volatile markets, and overhead costs. Many professionls said the Dean Witter move was a bold gambit to take advantage of the opportunity to hire seasoned veterans and fill the void created by Salomon Brothers's abrupt exit.
While the going was slow at first to gain market share, Mr. Putman and Mr. Donovan made inroads into the market by landing such deals as a large Oklahoma highway revenue bond issue.
Mr. Putman is vice chairman of the Public Securities Association's municipal securities division, as well as a member of the board of directors and the municipal executive committee.
