ATLANTA - Norman Pellegrini last week returned to PaineWebber Inc. as head of the firm's public finance group in Florida after a three-year hiatus at BT Securities Corp. in Orlando, where he had specialized in municipal derivatives products.
Jay R. Olson also returned last week to PaineWebber from BT Securities' Orlando office, according to Terry Atkinson, manager of municipal securities at PaineWebber.
"We are just delighted to have Norman and Jay back with us in Orlando, and see this as something that will strengthen our Florida franchise in a major way." Atkinson said last Friday in an interview.
Pellegrini, who was named managing director and head of PaineWebber's Orlando office, will oversee new business development throughout the Southeast, with a focus on Florida, Atkinson said.
"I really enjoyed working with BT and have been very glad to get the experience with derivatives, but I could not pass up this opportunity at PaineWebber," Pellegrini said last Friday in an interview.
Olson, Atkinson said, will be a vice president with a focus on structured finance and derivativess products.
Atkinson noted that the rehiring of Pellegrini also fills the vacuum created in April when Rick Fitzgerald, who had been the firm's manager of public finance in Florida, left PaineWebber to join Goldman, Sachs & Co.
Pellegrini and Olson's knowledge of derivative products will bolster the firm's general efforts to develop this area, Atkinson said.
PaineWebber does not plan anymore immediate hires at its Orlando office, which now has, at five, more public finance professionals than it has ever had, Atkinson said. But he added that the office might hire another banker within a year, depending on business growth.
"Our strategy here will be to serve all the major markets in Florida," Pellegrini said, "including Southern and Central Florida, the Tampa Bay area, and Jacksonville, as well as other areas in the Southeast.
PaineWebber has tended to concentrate its deals in central Florida, most recently lead-managing a $564 million offering for the Orlando-Orange County Expressway Authority last month. And last year, the company managed large issues sold by Orange County and the Greater Orlando Airport Authority.
Pellegrini first joined PaineWebber in 1985 as manager of investment banking in Orlando. Olson also joined PaineWebber that year as an associate in the Quantitative Services Group in New York City, and later moved to Orlando.
Both Pellegrini and Olson left PaineWebber in late 1990 for BT Securities.
Before becoming an investment banker, Pellegrini was assistant administrator and budget director for Orange County, Fla.
So far in 1993, PaineWebber ranks sixth as senior manager of Florida issues, with five issues totaling $704.9 million, according to Securities Data Co. In 1992, it ranked fifth, with 22 issues totaling $1.2 billion; and in 1991, 10th, with nine issues totaling $257 million.
BT Securities has not been lead manager for a deal in Florida this year, according to Securities Data. In 1992, it ranked 19th in Florida, with a $70.7 million issue; and in 1991, 14th, with two issues totaling $150 million.
Officials at BT Securities could not be reached for comment on the departure of Pellegrini and Olson and the status of the firm's Orlando office.
