James P. Fitzgerald, senior executive vice president at Kemper Securities Inc., has resigned from the firm to pursue other interests, he confirmed Thursday.
"I just decided we'd both be better off if I left," said Mr. Fitzgerald, who left the firm June 30. "We just decided to disagree agreeably."
Mr. Fitzgerald, who was one of the top three executives at the firm, said he decided to leave due to "philosophical differences over the way things were done."
"I just didn't agree with the way that some things were done," he said. "Once I was convinced that that's the way things were going to happen, I didn't think I could go along with it. It didn't think that I was capable of supporting actions taken and agreed upon by senior management." He declined to be more specific.
Kemper officials would not comment on the catalyst of Mr. Fitzgerald's departure.
Mr. Fitzgerald began hi career at Kemper in 1984 as senior vice president with Blunt Ellis & Loewi, formerly one of the company's regional firms. At Blunt Ellis, he built the municipal bond department from a start-up retail operation into a full-service retail, institutional sales, trading, underwriting, and public finance program.
In 1990, Mr. Fitzgerald became president of Kemper Capital Markets, which later became part of Kemper Securities Group, the predecessor of the present company. There he was responsible for all fixed-income operations. Earlier this year, he was named chairman of Kemper's business review committee. As the result of a restructuring completed last year, the firm is now known as Kemper Securities Inc.
Mr. Fitzgerald began his professional career as a trainee in the municipal bond department at Merrill Lynch & Co. Several years later, he started up the municipal bond department at PaineWebber Inc., where he became a corporate vice president.
Mr. Fitzgerald, who was not accepted a position at another firm, said he would like to remain in the Chicago area. He is considering starting his own firm, and has discussed with several companies the idea of developing a branch office in Chicago.
The municipal finance executive said he is most interested in creating a full service distribution operation involving retail, institutional, underwriting, and research facilities covering the tax-exempt and taxable markets.
