Top executive leaves Public Financial to seek new direction.

Samuel P. Katz, a managing director and former co-chief executive officer of Public Financial Management Inc., said yesterday that he has resigned from the financial advisory firm to pursue other business interests.

Katz said he planned to remain with the Philadelphia-based firm until yearend, but that he might leave earlier.

"I have a battery-charge need. I need to do something different," Katz said.

Katz, 44, said he has not decided what he will do after leaving the company but noted that he has no plans to do financial advisory work. A "non-compete clause" in his employment contract prohibits him from working for another financial advisory firm, he said.

"People aren't going to believe I don't have something lined up," Katz said. "If I felt I wanted to do this kind of work, I'd continue to do it here."

A variety of reasons, including personal ones, led to his decision to resign, Katz said.

"We're sorry to see him go," said F. John White, chief executive officer of Public Financial Management.

White described Katz's pending departure as "amicable" adding that "we'd love to have back."

"It is impossible to underestimate the contributions he has made to Public Financial Management over the years," White said.

However, "he has clearly developed interests outside of the business and has been less involved in the core business" recently, White said. He added that Katz felt it would be easier to pursue his interests in other kinds of "finance oriented work" away from the company.

Katz, who has run for mayor of Philadelphia and governor of Pennsylvania, said he is not resigning for the sake of a political career. "I'm not doing this to pursue politics," he said, but added, "I'm leaving the door open at a future time to pursue a public office."

Katz said he was the first employee of Public Financial Management, which was founded in 1975 by G. Edward DeSeve, a former Philadelphia finance director. During his tenure, Katz served as president of the firm from 1979 through 1983 and as co-chief executive officer from 1984 through 1993. He was a part-owner of the firm at one point and spent his entire career there.

"I was 25 or 26 when I started here," he said. "I have never looked for a job."

Katz said he has not owned any stock in the company since he and the company's other three owners sold their stakes to Marine Midland Bank in 1984. The company has been a wholly owned subsidiary of the bank since that time.

But Katz expressed interest in owning another business. "I would like to own the business that I'm in," Katz said. He declined to give specifics.

According to Katz, Public Financial Management has 16 offices and approximately 175 employees. In addition to financial advisory work, the firm does arbitrage rebate, project finance, and portfolio management of municipal bond proceeds. The firm also is involved in a joint venture with a Mexican firm to do financial advisory work, he said.

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