LOS ANGELES -- Dean Witter Reynold Inc.'s top municipal finance executive has resigned and will leave the New York City-based firm next Thursday amid ongoing restructuring that has included the departure of three public finance veterans in the San Francisco office.
Philip Korot, Dean Witter's executive vice president and managing director, will be replaced by Robert Shearer, a managing director and head of the Dean Witter Northeast municipal finance group.
Korot was traveling yesterday and could not be reached for comment.
In January, The Bond Buyer reported that Dean Witter was scaling back its participation in institutional municipal sales and would focus its efforts on retail. The firm has also reduced its public finance activities.
Bill Simmons, Dean Witter director of municipal securities, said Korot "resigned on his own," and Simmons said he did not know Korot's plans.
"Rumor and innuendo" circulating on the industry grapevine that Dean Witter "is shutting down" its participation in institutional municipal sales "is not true," Simmons said.
"We have refocused a lot of our public finance efforts on the retail side of the business," Simmons said. That does not mean Dean Witter is "getting away from the institutional part" of municipal finance.
Three former Dean Witter public finance employees, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said yesterday that Dean Witter is de-emphasizing public finance.
Dean Witter is "pursuing a regionalized retail strategy using smaller dealers," one former employee said. "By running the books, they can better control market risk and the distribution of bonds at retail."
Staff members "are not getting the commitment from senior management," a second long-time former employee said. "It is very difficult to compete with other firms when a client is asking you if you are staying in the business or not."
Three executives left Dean Witter's municipal finance office in San Francisco this month, including former managing director Peter J. Ross. He joined Dillon, Read & Co, as senior vice president of the firm's new California public finance unit in San Francisco.
Other Dean Witter departures included vice presidents Sam Al-Imam, who joined Alex, Brown & Sons in San Francisco as a vice president, and Jamie Miller, who joined Stone & Youngberg, also in San Francisco, as derivatives specialist.
Two professionals remain at the San Francisco Dean Witter municipal finance office; Richard L. Harris, a Dean Witter managing director, and Michael Jennings, a Dean Witter associate. As recently as the spring of 1993, eight professionals were based there, according to The Bond Buyer's Municipal Marketplace directory.
But the three most recent vacancies probably will be filled over time, Simmons said. "We will build it back when we find the right people," he said.
In 1993, Dean Witter ranked 30th as a senior manager, with 112 issues totaling $1.45 billion, according to Securities Data Co. To date in 1994, the firm ranks 12th as a senior manager, with 31 issues totaling $968 million.
In the negotiated sector, the firm ranked 44th as a senior manager in 1993, with 32 issues totaling $715 million. To date in 1994, the firm ranks 10th as a senior manager of negotiated offerings, with 13 issues totaling $855 million.
