Colorado.

COLORADO

George K. Baum & Co,'s municipal division, which is based in Denver, laid off nine employees, including three investment hankers, officials confirmed last week.

The layoffs were in part a reaction to lower underwriting volume related to market conditions and Colorado's tax and spending limitation Amendment 1, said senior vice president Alex Brown.

The cutbacks included two bankers in Sacramento, Calif., another in St. Louis, and an analyst and support staff in Denver.

The layoffs leave Baum with 300 employees, 165 of whom are in the municipal division. Of the municipal employees, 65 are in Denver.

The Kansas City, Mo.-based firm had been adding aggressively to its municipal staff over the past few years. Also this month, Baum hired Alan Matlosz' as an investment banker in Denver. Matlosz, a former financial analyst with the state of Colorado's department of local affairs, held a similar position with Norwest Bank-Denver prior to coming to Baum.

"We have done a midyear evaluation," Brown said. "There have been some positions that have been eliminated as part of that. I don't have to tell what the [new,issue] market's like. Like all firms, we see volume decreasing."

According to Securities Data Co., Baum was senior manager on about $2 billion of underwritings each of the past two years. To date in 1994, the firm has been senior manager on 78 issues totaling $616.4 million, putting the firm in 22nd place nationally, the same position it ended in last year.

-- Keith DuBay, Denver

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