LOS ANGELES — Newport Beach, Calif.-based Mischler Financial Group, a service-disabled veterans firm, aims to expand its presence in public finance with the hire of municipal vet Rick Tilghman to the newly created role of managing director, public finance.
Tilghman comes to Mischler from a position as senior vice president for minority broker-dealer Ramirez & Co., and will work in Mischler's, Stamford, Conn. office. The firm also has offices in Boston, Chicago, and Detroit.
Tilghman will further advance MFG's investment banking initiatives on behalf of federal, state, and local debt issuers throughout the country, according to the company.
"Rick is indisputably one of the most widely-respected experts throughout the municipal and public finance sectors," said Mischler Financial Group Chief Executive Officer Dean Chamberlain.
Tilghman has nearly 43 years of municipal finance experience primarily working with big bulge bracket firms.
During his military service he earned a bronze medal, the Air Medal for Valor, and two Purple Hearts.
Mischler, a certified minority-broker dealer and Service Disabled Veterans Business Enterprise decided to refocus on public finance for a number of reasons, Chamberlain said.
He sees an opportunity to capitalize on what he said is a "need for origination and distribution expertise in the public finance arena."
It is a natural progression for the firm, which expanded its presence in debt issuance on the taxable side in 2011, Chamberlain said.
Mischler had been involved in municipal finance in the late 90s to early 2000s, and when Chamberlain came on board in 2011, he looked to refocus on this business line, which he said had been somewhat dormant. MFG was involved in 20 public finance transactions when Chamberlain joined, he said.
Chamberlain has made a big push in the fixed-income arena during his three years with the firm. The Tilghman hire makes six people in offices across the country with public finance expertise, he said.
Chamberlain joined the firm as a principal in early 2011. He was appointed CEO, a role previously held by firm founder and Chairman Walter Mischler in January 2012. Chamberlain, a West Point graduate with a 22-year finance career, had worked as head of Fixed Income/Americas for Nomura Securities International and held executive roles at Bank of America and JPMorgan before joining MFG.
Chamberlain and Robb Karr spearheaded MFG's launch into the debt capital markets in 2011. In 2012, the firm acted as the underwriter on 224 debt deals totaling over $236 billion. It was part of the selling group on 84 additional deals totaling over $67 billion.
As a boutique, the firm typically acts as co-financial manager on deals, but is an active participant, Chamberlain said.
"Our sales force is already selling agency paper, corporate bonds and municipal bonds," Chamberlain said. "We are a well-known name in investment finance and structured finance on the taxable and equity side."
Tilghman, who earned a bronze star for his Vietnam service, is a welcome addition to a team "whose caliber and capabilities have proven more than compelling to a broad universe of issuers and institutional investment managers," Chamberlain said.
Tilghman hopes to bring his experience to bear as Mischler works to grow its public finance business.
"I like the fact the firm is small," Tilghman said. "As an ex-Marine, I really appreciate the fact it is owned by a veteran."
He has held senior executive public finance roles for Barclays Capital/Lehman Brothers, independent financial advisor Public Resources Advisory Group, Greenwich Partners and regional brokerage First Albany Corporation.
Tilghman began his career with The First Boston Corporation, later acquired by Credit Suisse, where he was one of the initial members of the firm's public finance department. During his 27 years with that global investment bank, he worked on a variety of financings with a concentration on utilities, general government and infrastructure financings. He also was a member of the firm's municipal financial products group, which provided capital markets services.
