Venture capital investing in the U.S. has dropped to its lowest level in more than 10 years, according to the latest Moneytree report by PriceWaterhouseCoopers and the National Venture Capital Association. The report says that venture capitalists invested about $3 billion in 549 deals in the first quarter of 2009, a 47 percent increase in dollars from the fourth quarter of 2008.

"It's no surprise that venture capital investing dropped in the first quarter," said Tracy

Lefteroff, global managing partner of the venture capital practice at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. "Given the economic turmoil that began in the third quarter of 2008 and continued on into 2009, it's not unexpected that the VCs would pause to assess the impact on their portfolio companies before again looking forward to their next investment."

Wisconsin and the Midwest were no exception.

The state only saw one VC investment during the first quarter, a $2.89 million placement, the report states. There were three VC investments during the fourth quarter of 2008, ranging from $1.975 million to $18 million.

The Midwest had 41 VC investments in the first quarter of 2009, down from 69 investments during the fourth quarter of 2008.

“These numbers clearly demonstrate that the venture capital industry is not immune from the current economic downturn, said Mark Heesen, president of the NVCA remarked.

“Venture capitalists have slowed their investment pace in order to work with existing companies that are not able to exit the venture portfolio due to the shuttered IPO window and the weakening acquisitions market.”

However, the NVCA believes market conditions will improve, Heesen said.

“We would expect a mild and steady increase in investment throughout the rest of the year, particularly if the exit pipeline is allowed to clear,” he said.

Robert W. Baird & Co. has opened a new public finance office in Denver, Colo., staffed by five former Wachovia employees with extensive public finance experience.

The new office is staffed by Brian Colon, managing director; Jim Blandford, managing director; Ann Erickson Gifford, managing director; Brian Kelso, vice president, and Stacey Reid, public finance coordinator.

“We are thrilled to add this talented group of public finance professionals and open a Baird office in Denver. Their commitment to client service fits perfectly with ours.” said Keith Kolb, managing director of Baird’s Public Finance group. “Despite the current market conditions Baird’s Public Finance team is pursuing – and will continue to pursue – opportunities to enhance our talent, footprint and overall market share. We look forward to Brian and his team opening up the Western region for our Public Finance group.”

Over the last two years, Baird has added numerous employees and locations to its public finance division. The Milwaukee-based firm has added numerous employees in Cincinnati and Nashville, and has opened a new office in Exton, Penn.

Baird’s expansion made it highly attractive to Colon and his team.

“Baird has the resources, commitment to public finance and stability to provide our clients with the great service they deserve,” said Colon. “We are excited to be joining a firm which considers public finance to be a critical component, and we are looking forward to contributing to its further success and expanding Baird’s Western presence.”

The annual BizTech Expo & Conference, to be held April 29 and 30 at the Wisconsin Expo Center at State Fair Park in West Allis, will include several seminars on financial matters. They include:

• Critical Financial Information for Business Survival, presented by Tim Clark of SCORE, on April 30 from 10:45 to 11:30 a.m. in seminar room B. This workshop will focus on how to calculate the break even point, the importance of understanding and managing fixed and variable costs as well as using the concept of contribution margin in setting prices.
• Angel Investing, presented by the BizStarts panel of George Mosher, Mike Harris, George Dalton and Daniel Steininger on April 30 from 1:45 to 2:30 in seminar room A. This seminar will focus on how the panel started numerous companies and lived to tell the story.

Entrance to the Expo is free with pre-registration and $45 at the door. For more information, or to pre-register, visit expo.biztimes.com.

TCF Bank gets approval to pay back TARP funds

TCF Financial Corp., The Wayzata, Minn.-based parent company of TCF Bank, which has several Wisconsin locations, announced Monday that it has received approval from the U.S. Treasury Department to pay back $361.2 million to the federal government that the bank had received through the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) program. TCF also said its board of directors reduced its regular quarterly cash dividend on common stock to 5 cents per share from 25 cents per share.

TCF said in March that it would request approval to return the TARP funds. TCF is repurchasing 361,172 shares of stock from the government.

In February, BizTimes Milwaukee was the first to report that TCF Bank, like some other banks that received TARP funds, sent some of its employees on an expensive junket to reward high performing employees. Public scrutiny of business practices by banks that received TARP has resulted in some banks deciding to return the money to the federal government. For example, Chicago-based Northern Trust Corp., which has an office in downtown Milwaukee said it would repay the $1.5 billion it received under the federal Capital Purchase Program as soon as possible, after several politicians decried its sponsorship of The Northern Trust Open, a PGA Tour event in California. Racine-based Johnson Bank and West Bend-based Commerce State Bank declined to participate in the TARP program.

Securant Bank & Trust accepts TARP funds

Menomonee Falls-based Securant Bank & Trust announced it will voluntarily sell $5.1 million in non-voting preferred stock to the U.S. Treasury Department as part of the voluntary federal Capital Purchase Program (CPP) to add capital. The CPP, part of the federal Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP), was created to help the nation's economy and encourage healthy banks to grow and increase lending.

The government will receive a 5-percent dividend as Securant Bank & Trust expects to buy back the certificates within three to five years.

"In order for banks to lend and grow, capitalization is necessary and raising the capital through private equity campaigns is difficult in this economic environment. The CPP was established to help banks raise capital precisely because of the difficulties for banks to raise funds in the midst of an economic recession," said David Davis, president and chief executive officer of Securant. "As the recession continues, the CPP becomes a practical source of capital that allows us to continue prudent growth opportunities and lend money to businesses and consumers in the communities we serve. When the economy starts to recover, businesses will want to borrow money, and we’ll be ready to lend them funds. Banks have to be ready and willing to lend money. It’s the catalyst for turning around this economy. That’s why this is a win-win for everyone."

Davis also said the bank is comfortable with the CPP’s requirements regarding executive compensation.

"None of the requirements has implications for Securant Bank & Trust," Davis said.

Securant has assets of $231 million, with operations in Menomonee Falls, Milwaukee, Elm Grove, Hartland and Slinger.

Bank Mutual first quarter profit up 41 percent

While other financial institutions in the United States are struggling to survive, Brown Deer-based Bank Mutual Corp. recently reported first quarter net income of $7.2 million, or 15 cents per diluted share, up 41 percent from first quarter 2008 net income of $5.1 million or 10 cents per diluted share.

“As we expected, a historically low interest rate environment enabled us to significantly increase profits from our mortgage lending operation and to maintain our net interest margin," said Michael T. Crowley, Jr., chairman, president, and chief executive officer of Bank Mutual Corp. "We were also able to take advantage of opportunities in the securities market to sell certain long-term, fixed-rate investments at significant gains. We felt these actions were prudent in order to prepare our balance sheet for what we believe will be higher interest rates in the future."

During the first quarter, Bank Mutual had a $3 million, or nearly 375 percent, increase in loan sales activities, a $2.2 million or 12.7 percent increase in net interest income, and a $592,000, or more than 40 percent, increase in investment gains.

However, in light of current economic conditions and recent loan origination activity, Bank Mutual management expects growth in all categories of the company’s loan portfolio to be slow or negative in the near term

"Although we continue to be pleased with the quality of our loan portfolio, we remain concerned about the overall direction of the economy," Crowley said. "For that reason, we took steps to increase our allowance for loan losses during the period.”

First quarter earnings for Associated Bank up from fourth quarter

Green Bay-based Associated Banc-Corp., which has substantial operations in the Milwaukee area, reported recently that its first quarter net income was $35.4 million, or 28 cents per share, down from $66.5 million, or 52 cents per share, during the first quarter of 2008, but still an improvement from fourth quarter of 2008 net income of $13.6 million, or 11 cents per share.

Net interest income for the first quarter of 2009 was $189.3 million compared to $191.8 million for the fourth quarter of 2008 and $165.1 million for the first quarter of 2008.

Associated Banc-Corp. also announced a 27-cent cut in quarterly dividend to 5 cents per share compared to the previous quarterly dividend of 32 cents per share.

“While the decision to reduce the quarterly dividend was difficult, we believe that it is in the best long-term interests of our shareholders to preserve capital during this time of unprecedented economic uncertainty and market volatility,” said chairman and CEO Paul S. Beideman. “We believe the dividend reduction will better enable us to support our customers and communities, grow and expand our businesses, and maintain and enhance our tangible common equity. We recognize and appreciate the loyalty of our shareholders. We also understand the impact the dividend reduction will have on our shareholders. The board of directors and management are committed to increasing the dividend as soon as possible.”

Lakeview Equity acquires Atlanta-based event travel services company

Lakeview Equity Partners, LLC, a Milwaukee-based private equity fund, recently announced the completion of a deal to acquire the event housing and registration assets of Ambassadors, the Atlanta-based events travel services company.

With this transaction, both Ambassadors and Travel Technology Group, LLC, the Chicago-based event housing and travel provider, will operate under the Lakeview umbrella, each continuing to offer tailored event housing solutions to the meetings and events industry.

Lakeview Equity Partners provided the capital to complete the acquisition and will now be the majority shareholder of the two event services providers.

Lakeview Equity Partners acquired a majority interest in Travel Technology Group a year ago.

Both Ambassadors and Travel Technology Group will operate as separate entities. Ambassadors will remain based in Atlanta, continuing to use the same event services team and proprietary event management technology. Travel Technology Group will remain based in Chicago, with the same staff, processes and technology solutions. The executive management teams will remain in place at both companies.

“We’re committed to driving service excellence in the event planning industry,” said Joe Cesarz, vice president of Lakeview Equity Partners, LLC. “Both companies are innovative market leaders, and will clearly continue to define market standards by expanding their commitment to outstanding customer service to not only their clients, but their hotel and registration partners. Our goal is to continue delivering innovative services and products to the market.”

M&I Wealth Management has promoted Don Dahlman to vice president, senior financial advisor. Dahlman previously served as assistant vice president, senior financial advisor. He has been with M&I since 2004.

Dahlman earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He resides in Wauwatosa.

Alberto Padron has been hired as an agency sales director with MetLife Greater Wisconsin, an office of MetLife. Padron will manage the firm’s business performance including good business practices and sales growth.

Padron is a member of the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors and the Society of Financial Services Professionals.  He has worked in the financial services industry for 13 years.

Philippe Bisson has been hired as a financial services representative by MetLife Greater Milwaukee. Bisson is a graduate of Sherbrooke University, earning his Master's Degree in Human Productivity Management.  He is a registered representative of MetLife.

West Bend Mutual Insurance names Steiner as new CEO

As expected, West Bend Mutual Insurance Company recently announced the promotion of Kevin Steiner to president and chief executive officer, succeeding Tony Warren, who retired as CEO April 1.

Steiner joined West Bend in 1994 as group underwriting manager and was later named corporate sales manager. In 1996, he was promoted to assistant vice president of sales, and in 2002 to senior vice president of Marketing. He was named executive vice president and chief operating officer in 2007.

Before joining West Bend, Steiner spent 10 years with Citizens Insurance Company in Michigan. He is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-River Falls and received his master's degree in business administration from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.

The board of directors of West Bend Mutual elected Warren as the new chairman of the board. Warren, succeeds John "Rocky" Dedrick, who retired in March.

Mayfair Mall owner files for bankruptcy

Chicago-based General Growth Properties Inc., the owner of Mayfair Mall in Wauwatosa, announced today that it is seeking relief to reduce and restructure its debts under Chapter 11 of the U.S. bankruptcy code.

"All day-to-day operations and business of all of the company's shopping centers and other properties will continue as usual," General Growth said in a news release. "The company intends to work with its constituencies to emerge from bankruptcy as quickly as possible while executing on a plan of reorganization that preserves the company’s integrated, national business operations."

General Growth's stock closed at $1.05 Wednesday, far below its 52-week high of $44.23.

General Growth is a real estate investment trust (REIT) and is the second-largest owner and operator of malls in the United States, behind only Indianapolis-based Simon Property Group Inc., which owns Southridge Mall in Greendale. General Growth owns or operates more than 200 shopping malls in 44 states, encompassing about 200 million square feet of space.

Many owners of retail real estate have struggled during the recession as shoppers are spending less money, resulting in numerous store closings and empty spaces in shopping centers.

General Growth said its problems are a result of the crisis in the credit markets. The company said its decision to file bankruptcy, "came after extensive efforts to refinance or extend maturing debt outside of Chapter 11. Over many months, the company has endeavored to negotiate with its unsecured and secured creditors to obtain the time needed to develop a long-term solution to the credit crisis facing the company. Unable to reach an out-of-court consensus, the company reluctantly concluded that restructuring under the protection of the bankruptcy court was necessary. During the chapter 11 cases, the company will continue to explore strategic alternatives and search the markets for available sources of capital. The company intends to pursue a plan of reorganization that extends mortgage maturities and reduces its corporate debt and overall leverage. This will establish a sustainable, long-term capital structure for the company."

General Growth also announced that it has received a commitment for a debtor-in-possession financing facility of approximately $375 million from New York-based Pershing Square Capital Management, L.P., as agent.

"When approved by the bankruptcy court, the new facility will provide a source of funds to the company during the chapter 11 process," the company said.

North Shore Bank to hold Community Shredding Day on May 2

North Shore Bank will hold its third annual bank-wide Community Shredding Day on Saturday, May 2.  People can stop by any of North Shore Bank’s 41 Wisconsin branches from 9 a.m. to noon to have outdated personal documents securely shredded.  The event is free and open to the public.

Documents for shredding may include old bank statements and other papers listing bank account information, credit card statements and documents listing credit card numbers, credit applications, pre-approved credit offers, old paycheck stubs and documents listing Social Security numbers. While materials will be accepted at all North Shore Bank offices, those who have larger quantities of papers for shredding (up to two boxes) are encouraged to visit one of eight branches that will have large mobile shredders and shredding specialists on site. Those locations are:

• Brookfield Square - 15700 W. Bluemound Road in Brookfield
• Fox Point - 600 E. Green Tree Road in Fox Point
• Southridge - 5101 S. 76th St. in Greendale
• Westgate - 4923 Washington Ave. in Racine
• Grafton/Cedarburg - 2301 Wisconsin Avenue in Grafton (across from Sendik's)

All shredded materials will then be recycled.  In addition, the bank will provide information about how to prevent identity theft, what personal documents should be kept and for how long, green spring cleaning tips, and more. Additional information about the Community Shredding Day is available on the bank’s Web site at www.shredit.northshorebank.com and at any North Shore Bank office. 

Washington County meeting to focus on stimulus bill

An informational meeting about the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will be held for Washington County businesses on Friday, April 24.

The event will take place at the Moraine Park Technical College's West Bend Campus, 2151 N. Main St., Room T-101, from 8 to 10 a.m.

The session will focus on how entrepreneurs could reap significant financial benefits from the $787 billion federal stimulus bill by "simply following the money."

The Economic Development/Washington County will present the meeting in conjunction with the Godfrey & Kahn Law Firm. The session will be led by attorney Arthur Harrington, chair of the firm's Environmental and Energy Law Practice Group and co-chair of the company's Economic Recovery Team. To reserve a seat at the meeting, call (262) 335-5769.

DeWitt Ross & Stevens will present its “Employee Benefits Update” Seminar on Thursday, April 23 from 7:30 to 11 a.m. at the Brookfield Suites Hotel, 1200 South Moorland Road, Brookfield. Speakers will address timely employee benefit topics including: reductions of retirement plan contributions, partial terminations of retirement plans, RMD suspension for 2009, pollovers to Roth IRAs, the Hecker case on 401(k) plan fees, COBRA law changes (premium subsidy), HIPAA law changes, cafeteria plan regulations and FMLA law changes. There are three ways to register for this free event: Go to www.dewittross.com, choose Events to register for the event of your choice; send an email to seminar@dewittross.com; or call 608-252-9234.

BizTimes Milwaukee will present its annual “BizTech Conference & Expo” on Wednesday and Thursday April 29 & 30 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Wisconsin Exposition Center at State Fair Park. The event will feature useful and informative business seminars, breakfast and luncheon events, and a regional after hours networking event. This two-day expo will be the largest business-to-business expo in southeastern Wisconsin. Free advanced registration is available at www.biztimes.com/expo, which includes free admission to the expo. Use discount code "BIZ".

Banking

• Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions 
• Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
• Wisconsin Bankers Association 
• Community Bankers of Wisconsin
• Wisconsin Mortgage Bankers Association
• American Bankers Association
• Bankers Association for Finance and Trade
• Commercial Finance Association 
• Risk Management Association

Mergers & Acquisitions

• Association for Corporate Growth 
• International Business Brokers Association 
• Mergers.com

Wealth Management/Financial/Retirement Planning

• Financial Planning Association
• Financial Planning Association of Southern Wisconsin
• Investment Management Consultants Association
• National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA)

Other 

• Small Business Administration
• State public awareness campaign
• Wisconsin Credit Union League
• CFA Institute
• CFA Society of Milwaukee
• Wisconsin Angel Network