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Ehlers
Ehlers was founded in 1955 as a financial advisory firm dedicated exclusively to public-sector entities in Minnesota. CEO Jeff Seeley oversees an operation...
Ehlers
Ehlers was founded in 1955 as a financial advisory firm dedicated exclusively to public-sector entities in Minnesota. CEO Jeff Seeley oversees an operation that functions as a quasi-public utility for local governments, providing economic consulting that spans municipal bond issuance, referendum strategy, utility rate studies, and long-term capital planning. The firm has no wealth-management practice for individuals — its clients are school superintendents, city managers, and county administrators navigating voter approvals and bond markets. Ehlers' deployment is highly concentrated in tax-exempt municipal finance. Core services include general obligation bond structuring, revenue bond planning for water and sewer utilities, tax increment financing (TIF) for redevelopment districts, and post-issuance federal tax compliance. The firm also conducts feasibility studies for public-private partnerships in parking ramps, community centers, and municipal broadband. Since 2018, Ehlers has served as a pooled investment advisor for dozens of Minnesota school districts and small cities through local government investment pools. Its geographic footprint covers Minnesota, Wisconsin, and, more recently, Colorado through a satellite advisory function. Headcount is private, but Ehlers operates as a midsize regional specialist rather than a national platform. It does not manage commingled funds, does not report AUM publicly, and does not sponsor private-capital vehicles. The firm maintains a registered investment advisor (RIA) designation solely to support its state-domiciled pooled investment trusts. In June 2022, Ehlers formally severed its insurance-services division — a Minnesota-based employee-benefits brokerage — to sharpen focus exclusively on public-finance advisory. Ehlers' structural differentiator is its absolute restriction to public-sector advisory with no crossover into private wealth. Most firms in its size range (e.g., Piper Sandler, PFM) hedge across municipal advisory and asset management; Ehlers does neither private banking nor retail investment products. This purity, combined with deep penetration of Minnesota's TIF and bonding statute peculiarities, makes the firm impossible to replicate for a national competitor without local institutional memory.
General information
Firm type
Bank / Wealth / Trust
Year founded
1955
AUM
Undisclosed
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Minneapolis
Corporate office
Minneapolis, MN, United States
Principals
Jeff Seeley
CEO
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who runs investment decisions at Ehlers?
Executive leadership under CEO Jeff Seeley makes all strategic decisions, but Ehlers does not manage discretionary investment portfolios in the traditional sense. Its 'investment' function is municipally focused — managing pooled local government investment trusts and structuring bond proceeds escrows — which are governed by state statute and directed by client-elected officials rather than a centralized investment committee.
Does Ehlers participate in fund commitments or only direct deals?
Ehlers does not participate in private fund commitments. Its capital-market activity is restricted to direct municipal bond issuances, where it acts as a municipal advisor on behalf of issuers — not a buyer or allocator. The firm's pooled investment vehicles are cash-management trusts for public entities, not return-seeking pools.
Is Ehlers structured as a single family office or an institutional firm?
Ehlers is a privately held independent advisory firm, not a family office. It has no significant outside institutional or private-equity ownership and no disclosure obligation under the Investment Company Act beyond its SEC-registered municipal advisory and RIA filings. Ownership is held by senior advisors, making it partner-stewarded rather than family-dynastic.
What investment stages does Ehlers target?
The firm operates across the full life cycle of municipal capital projects: pre-planning (feasibility studies, referendum advising), issuance (bond structuring, competitive vs. negotiated sale), post-issuance compliance (tax arbitrage rebate reporting), and treasury management (operational liquidity pools). It does not target equity or venture stages in corporate markets.
Which sectors does Ehlers explicitly avoid?
Ehlers has no corporate advisory, private equity, or individual wealth-management business. The 2022 divestiture of its insurance-brokerage arm confirmed the strategic decision to exit any sector — including employee benefits — outside pure municipal advisory. Healthcare service M&A, tech venture, and real estate development advisory (aside from public TIF districts) are outside scope.
How does Ehlers source advisory engagements?
Sourcing is relationship-based via a network of city managers, superintendents, and county finance directors built over seven decades. Minnesota law requires that most municipal issuers competitively procure their municipal advisor, which means Ehlers must win individual RFPs. Referrals from bond counsel firms and public-accounting firms in the Minnesota-Wisconsin corridor form a secondary pipeline.
Where does Ehlers' advisory authority come from, and is it regulated?
Ehlers is registered with the SEC and the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB) as a municipal advisor, meaning it carries a fiduciary duty to its public-sector clients. Its pooled investment activity falls under a separate SEC rule as a registered investment advisor providing services to governmental entities, and its adherence to MSRB Rule G-23 prohibits it from acting as both underwriter and advisor on the same transaction.
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