Piper Sandler names two to replace Frank Fairman as public finance head

Piper Sandler has named Dustin Avey and Jeremy Garber as co-heads of public finance, replacing Frank Fairman, a 40-year veteran of the firm.

Fairman, who headed public finance for the firm since 1991, will remain with Piper Sandler in an advisory capacity “into 2024,” the firm said.

“I would like to sincerely thank Frank for building our market-leading public finance franchise over the past three decades,” Piper Sandler President Deb Schoneman said in a statement Monday announcing the promotions.

Dustin Avey, left, and Jeremy Gerber have been named co-heads of public finance at Piper Sandler, replacing Frank Fairman, a four-decade veteran of the firm.

Avey and Garber will report to her.

“Dustin and Jeremy bring incredible experience and energy to the business with a focus on continued growth of our diversified platform,” Schoneman said.

Avey has been with the firm since 2007. He is currently a managing director and head of Midwest public finance and brings 21 years of experience as a municipal financial advisor and underwriter. He graduated from Iowa State University with a bachelor’s degree in finance.

Gerber has been with the firm since 2011, and currently is a managing director and head of senior living, serving a national client base.

Before joining Piper Sandler, he was an associate at Jefferies & Co. and a vice president at a regional commercial bank. He attended Drexel University where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in business administration.

“We are excited and honored to take on these new leadership roles as co-heads of public finance and are energized by the positivity, commitment and effort around the business and the focus on serving clients,” Avey said.

“Our focus continues to be supporting the communities where we live and work by cultivating tailored solutions that serve the unique needs of our clients,” Gerber said.

They have big shoes to fill.

Fairman is a 2023 inductee to The Bond Buyer Muni Hall of Fame, which honored him for, among other things, building out the national footprint of the firm’s public finance team, growing it to 160 bankers in 43 locations across the U.S.

Piper Sandler was credited by Refinitiv with underwriting $13.7 billion of municipal bonds in 2022, for an 11th place national rank.