E&Y SHEDS INVESTMENT BANKING ARM: Big Four firm Ernst & Young has shed its investment banking arm by selling the practice to the consulting firm run by former New York City Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani.Giuliani Partners LLC bought Ernst & Young Corporate Finance LLC, an affiliate of the Big Four accounting firm, and simultaneously launched Giuliani Capital Advisors LLC, which will advise companies on acquisitions, restructurings and other deals.
The two-term former mayor and the accounting firm forged the alliance that created Giuliani Partners LLC, of which Giuliani is chairman and chief executive, in January 2002, shortly after he left office.
At that time, the company made mention of plans to establish Giuliani Capital Partners, which it said would initially focus on investing in security and protection companies. Giuliani Partners' principal offices are housed in the same building as the New York headquarters of Ernst & Young.
E&Y chairman and CEO James S. Turley said that the sale of the investment banking unit "is part of our ongoing commitment to refocus on our core businesses - auditing, tax and transaction advisory services."
Former E&Y vice chairman Steven D. Oesterle, who has been a managing director at Giuliani Partners since January 2003, will serve as chairman and CEO of Giuliani Capital Advisors.
The EYCF executives will maintain their existing client relationships and will stay in their current locations. EYCF has offices in New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Troy, Mich. - Melissa Klein-Aguilar
CALPERS OUSTS ACTIVIST PREXY: Sean Harrigan, president of the California Public Employees Retirement System, whose activist tenure included calling for the ouster of such corporate heads as Michael Eisner at Walt Disney Co. and Safeway chairman Steven Burd, was removed from his post at the $177 billion fund.
The California Personnel Board voted 3-2 to replace Harrigan with Ron Alvarado, who will serve a one-year term that began on January 1.
Harrigan had been an unrelenting proponent of corporate governance, and had railed against excess executive compensation, but his campaigns had reportedly angered many in the private business sector, as well as California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Harrigan had served as board president at CalPERS since early 2003. While there, his activist campaigns had come under fire and he was accused of furthering his own political agenda rather than the interests of the 1.4 million people who currently receive benefits from the pension system.
FPA NAMES FIVE TO BOARD: The Financial Planning Association has named five new members to its board.
Those serving three-year terms beginning on Jan. 1, 2005, are: Kathleen Day, CFP, CFA, president of The Enrichment Group, of Miami; Kathleen Longo, CFP, principal/financial planner with Accredited Investors Inc., in Edina, Minn.; Martin Siesta, CFP, ChFC, MSFS, senior financial planner with The Wealth Planning Group, a division of MetLife, in Cranford, N.J.; Curt Weil, CFP, principal of Weil Capital Management LLC, in Palo Alto, Calif.; and Timothy Wyman, CFP, JD, partner with Center for Financial Planning Inc., in Southfield, Mich.
COLLEGE FOR FINANCIAL PLANNING NAMES SHARKEY: The College for Financial Planning has named Eileen M. Sharkey, CFP, as its chairman.
A graduate of London University, she opened a financial planning practice in 1978 and later founded the financial planning partnership of Sharkey Howes & Javer.
She currently serves on the board at Metro State College in Denver and has been a consultant on financial issues for magazines such as Women's Day, Money and Good Housekeeping.
