San Francisco PUC’s Sklaroff named to California debt commission
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Nikolai J. Sklaroff, capital finance director for the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission has been appointed to the California Debt and Investment Advisory Commission.
Sklaroff replaces Lakshmi Kommi on the commission, which provides information, education, and technical assistance on debt issuance and the investment of public funds to public agency finance professionals and serves as the state’s clearinghouse for public debt information.
Kommi, San Diego’s longtime debt manager, retired last year. She steps down from CDIAC after serving for 18 months.
“Nikolai has a wealth of knowledge in public finance, with a record of accomplishments in aiding states and local governments to responsibly secure capital for crucial infrastructure,” State Treasurer Fiona Ma, who chairs CDIAC and made the appointment, said in a statement. “His wisdom will serve the commission well.”
Sklaroff, who has worked more than 30 years in the public finance industry, was named SFPUC’s capital finance director in May.
As capital finance director, Sklaroff manages the day-to-day operations of the SFPUC’s capital finance portfolio which includes nearly $7 billion of outstanding bonds, nearly $1.9 billion of state and federal loans, and the daily operations of the SFPUC’s $1.5 billion commercial paper program across three enterprises: water, wastewater and power.
Prior to joining SFPUC, Sklaroff was the city of San José’s deputy director of finance and oversaw its $4.6 billion debt portfolio across all enterprises, while managing its $2.4 billion investment portfolio and its banking operations.
Before moving to the public sector, Sklaroff spent 22 years as a senior public finance investment banker in San Francisco with Citigroup Global Markets, J. P. Morgan Securities, and Wells Fargo Securities.
He began his career as a financial advisor with Public Financial Management, Inc. in Philadelphia, then joined Moody’s Investors Service as a rating agency analyst and member of Moody’s rating committee and moved to San Francisco.
“While I have had wonderful experiences working on financings and investment of public funds, one of the things I have valued most highly in my career is having the opportunity to help train and educate the next generations of leaders in California public finance,” said Sklaroff, who was sworn onto the commission at the State Treasurer’s Office.
Sklaroff is no stranger to CDIAC, previously serving on its Technical Advisory Committee. He is frequently tapped to be a speaker at industry conferences and serve on multiple boards of directors and advisory committees, such as a recent appointment to the Government Finance Officers Association Debt Committee.
