Mark S. Ferber, a partner of Lazard Freres & Co., resigned Friday to become a vice chairman and co-chief executive officer at First Albany Corp.
Ferber, 39, who ran Lazard's Boston office, is joining First Albany as a major shareholder.
A senior executive at Lazard said the departure of Ferber could mean the Boston office will be closed, but no decision has yet been made. Sources at First Albany said all nine of Lazard's Boston employees would join Ferber in the move.
In addition, Kenneth D. Gibbs, a senior vice president in Lazard's New York office and longtime associate of Ferber, will move to First Albany as a co-director of the firm's public finance department.
Gibbs joined Ferber in 1988 when they both moved from First Boston Corp. to Lazard. At First Albany, Gibbs will work with Arthur T. Murphy Jr., the company's current municipal department manager.
George C. McNamee, chairman and director at First Albany, said he has been trying for years to persuade Ferber to join the firm.
"I have known Mark for years and we have been trying to recruit him for 13 years." McNamee said. "We are just thrilled that he finally listened to us."
Ferber called Lazard "a terrific place," saying that was the most difficult aspect of the decision to move. "But this is an opportunity to work with good friends to build an organization in an environment that is changing rapidly," he said in a telephone interview on Friday.
Michael J. DelGiudice, a managing partner at Lazard, called Ferber "a valuable partner to our firm and a leader in the industry."
"We are sorry to see him leave, but his assignment is one that will be both exciting and challenging," DelGiudice said.
Lazard ranked 10th among senior managers last year, with 35 issues totaling $4.6 billion, according to Securities Data Co. It ranked third among financial advisers, with $9.7 billion in financings. Among co-managers, Lazard ranked 18th, with 179 issues totaling $21.2 billion.
"Lazard has grown substantially in the municipal finance business in the past five years, and our plans are to continue to do so," DelGiudice said.
First Albany ranked 71st among senior managers in 1992, with 28 deals totaling $374 million. On the co-manager list, the company was 25th, with 206 issues totaling $15.7 billion.
Ferber, who began his career at Kidder, Peabody & Co. in 1982, has built an impressive client base over his 11 years in public finance, including one of the market's biggest issuers in recent years, the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority.
Those clients have shown strong loyalty to Ferber. When he left First Boston for Lazard in 1988, for example, the water authority followed. So did the city of Boston and other key New England issuers.
In an interview with The Bond Buyer four months after his move to Lazard, Ferber said of his clients' loyalty: "Look at it this way. If a doctor you had grown to respect and trust left one hospital to go to another, would you stick with the hospital or would you follow the doctor?"
Before entering the public finance field, Ferber was budget director and chief counsel to the Massachusetts Senate Ways and Means Committee. While there, he had a strong hand in drafting an influential analysts examining the budget implications of Proposition 2 1/2, a ballot measure that introduced wide-ranging tax cuts in the state.
He was also selected by Mayor Raymond L. Flynn of Boston in 1984 to head a special task force to assess the city's fiscal health. In addition to suggesting substantial spending cuts and tax reform, the task force recommended the city tap the bond market for a $50 million issue. Ferber's firm at the time, Kidder Peabody, won the underwriting job.
