PHILADELPHIA, Jan. 19, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- PFM Advisors, a division of PFM Asset Management LLC, today announced the appointment of Biagio Manieri, Ph.D., CFA, as Director of Research. Dr. Manieri, who was most recently an investment officer with the Federal Reserve, will head a team of analysts concentrating on the economy, capital markets, and investment management products in order to assist PFM Advisors in exploring investment opportunities for its institutional clients.
"We are very excited to bring a professional of Biagio Manieri's experience on board," said PFMAM Managing Director John Spagnola. "His special level of expertise will help us continue to build our research capabilities and seek out opportunities designed to benefit our multi-asset class and consulting clients," Mr. Spagnola explained. "This challenging investment environment demands that we continue to deliver attractively priced asset class ideas and best in class management solutions to our clients so that they can achieve their long term investment objectives, and we believe that Dr. Manieri and his team will make a great contribution to this effort. "
At the Federal Reserve System in Newark, NJ, Dr. Manieri helped to manage over $13 billion in defined benefit and defined contribution plan assets and reported to the Investment Committee consisting of Federal Reserve Presidents and Board Governors. He was also responsible for the Federal Reserve System's Liability Driven Investment Portfolio. Prior to his six years there, Biagio Manieri was an investment analyst at several asset management firms, including Lord Abbett & Co., FP Asset Management, Inc., and Goldman Sachs & Co. He received his Ph.D. from Columbia University, where he also taught for five years from 1991-1996.
PFMAM, through its PFM Advisors division, provides independent investment consulting and asset management services to institutional clients around the country. It currently serves clients with $12.5 billion in assets in 19 states, including over $1.2 billion in discretionary assets under management and over $1.0 billion in OPEB (Other Post Employment Benefits) as of September 30, 2011.
The PFM Group employs more than 470 professionals serving a broad base of clients from 34 offices located in every region of the country. The firm is well respected for providing clients with independent advisory services free of conflicts in their dealings with the capital markets. PFM Asset Management LLC (PFMAM), part of the PFM Group of companies, is registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. PFMAM had $42.1 billion in assets under management at December 31, 2011 and provided investment consulting services for an additional $24.0 billion in securities as of September 30, 2011. Public Financial Management, Inc., also part of the PFM Group companies, was the top-ranked independent financial advisory firm in the nation for 2011, according to Thomson-Reuters, advising on more than $39.6 billion of total debt in 757 separate transactions during the year just past. Since its founding in 1974, Public Financial Management, Inc. has provided independent financial advisory services to local, state, and regional government and non-profit clients throughout the United States in their dealings with the capital markets. The PFM Group's clients are state and local governments, non-profit corporations, pension funds, and similar institutional investors. The PFM Group of companies also provides best practices strategic consulting and pension advisory consulting services.
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