Tom Curran Joins Piper Jaffray in Continued Expansion of the St. Louis Market

ST. LOUIS, Oct. 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Piper Jaffray & Co. today announced the addition of Tom Curran to the public finance services team in St. Louis. He joins Piper Jaffray on the heels of the completed acquisition of Fiduciary Asset Management (FAMCO) in September. The addition of Curran, as well as approximately 50 new FAMCO employees, fuels Piper Jaffray in its significant expansion and growth in the St. Louis market.

As a vice president of investment banking, Curran will build the firm's governmental and economic development business in the St. Louis area, Eastern Missouri and Southern Illinois. Prior to joining Piper Jaffray, Curran was responsible for transportation and redevelopment policy for St. Louis County, where he played a key role in various planning and economic development issues.

"Tom's extensive knowledge of local government finance will help Piper Jaffray continue to build strong relationships with many key government issuers in the St. Louis area and in the state of Missouri," says Frank Fairman, head of Public Finance Services at Piper Jaffray.

The St. Louis public finance services team serves as a financial advisor and underwriter for area cities, counties, school districts, healthcare institutions, higher education institutions and economic development projects. As one of the leading underwriters of municipal bonds in Missouri, Piper Jaffray was lead manager on 61 issues in the state with a total par amount of $508.5 million in 2006. As a result, Thompson Financial ranked Piper Jaffray as the number one underwriter, based on number of issues, in Missouri for 2006. This year, the St. Louis public finance services team has completed 36 transactions totaling $714.24 million and is scheduled to close five additional economic development financings for the City of St. Louis over the next two months.

In September, Piper Jaffray completed the acquisition of FAMCO. The St. Louis asset management firm has $8.2 billion of assets under management and serves clients through separately managed accounts and closed end funds, and offers an array of investment products, including traditional core equity, quantitative and hedged equity, master limited partnerships, and fixed income.

About Piper Jaffray

Piper Jaffray Companies is a leading, international middle-market investment bank and institutional securities firm, serving the needs of middle-market corporations, private equity groups, public entities, nonprofit clients and institutional investors. Founded in 1895, Piper Jaffray provides a comprehensive set of products and services, including equity and debt capital markets products; public finance services; mergers and acquisitions advisory services; high-yield and structured products; institutional equity and fixed- income sales and trading; and equity and high-yield research. With headquarters in Minneapolis, Piper Jaffray has 25 offices across the United States and international locations in London, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing. Piper Jaffray & Co. is the firm's principal operating subsidiary. (http://www.piperjaffray.com/)

Since 1895. Member SIPC and FINRA.