Duncan-Williams, a privately owned investment firm, said it has opened an office in Columbus, OH to further enhance its public finance practice and expand its national presence. The new office is the 17th location for the firm.

The office will be led by Kevin Boyce, managing director, and Christy McMurry, senior vice president – both industry experts with strong leadership experience in the municipal market.

“This expansion of our geographic footprint reinforces our overall growth strategy. Today, the market is changing faster than ever, and we must stay ahead of the curve and aim to expand our reach even further,” said McMurry.

“Although our roots are in the Southeast, we have grown into a nationally recognized, full-service financial services provider serving clients in all 50 states from offices across the country. The opening of this new office in Columbus further expands our national reach,” Boyce added.

Boyce joins Duncan-Williams after working for Rice Financial Products, a New York-based investment banking firm. Boyce offers a strong tradition of performance excellence with extensive experience in Public Finance. Prior to joining Rice, Boyce served as State of Ohio Treasurer where he led the country’s seventh largest state treasury while guiding an investment team responsible for a $10B fixed income portfolio, public finance issuances for over $1.2B, overseeing pension fund custodial agreements for over $150B, reducing pension funds fees and cost 65% ($20M), and operations expenses 12% over two years. He is currently serving in the state legislature for the State of Ohio.

McMurry joins Duncan-Williams as senior vice president. She has been providing financial advisory and investment banking services to state and local governments for more than 12 years. McMurry has worked on a myriad of complex structured financings specializing in K-12, higher education, water, sewer and capital projects for local government issuers in Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia. Prior to joining the Firm, McMurry worked on the trading desk for Seasongood and Mayer, gaining a keen understanding of not just structuring a municipal issue, but also how to market those issues to the financial markets.