Acacia Financial Group

What Acacia Financial Group does

Acacia Financial Group, Inc. is an independent, women-owned municipal financial advisory firm founded in 2006 and headquartered in Mt. Laurel, New Jersey. The firm provides financial advisory services to governmental entities — including state agencies, counties, municipalities, school districts, healthcare entities, higher education institutions, transportation authorities, and water/wastewater agencies — as well as non-profit organizations engaged in public benefit projects. Acacia is SEC and MSRB registered as a municipal advisor and operates under the federal fiduciary standard established by Dodd-Frank, distinguishing it from broker-dealer affiliated competitors. The firm is consistently ranked among the top ten municipal advisory firms in the United States and maintains offices in New Jersey, Illinois, New York, Ohio, and Alaska, providing national coast-to-coast coverage.

The firm's service offering is organized around four disciplines: Debt Advisory (competitive and negotiated bond transactions, private placements, fixed and variable rate securities), Consulting (multi-year plans, fiscal impact studies, P3 feasibility analyses), Derivatives Advisory (swaps, swaptions, caps, basis swaps, total return swaps), and Redevelopment Advisory (NJ Redevelopment Area Bonds, RABs, New Market Tax Credits). Acacia's technology stack combines third-party tools — DBC Finance for bond structuring, What's Best? for optimization, Bloomberg Analytics for swap modeling — with proprietary in-house software for derivative valuations, redevelopment financial modeling, escrow restructuring, and swap notification. Senior professionals have collectively completed over $16 billion in bond financings and 20+ P3 projects. No software-as-a-product or API is offered; services are delivered exclusively through professional advisory engagements.

Acacia generates revenue through professional fees on a per-project basis, structured consistently with client agreements, with pricing not publicly disclosed. The firm is privately held and wholly owned by a team of shareholders led by co-founders Kim M. Whelan (President & CEO), Peter D. Nissen, Joshua C. Nyikita, Jennifer G. Edwards, and Noreen P. White. There is no parent company, no institutional investors, and no disclosed funding history. Client acquisition relies primarily on relationship-based sales, thought leadership through regular market updates, industry conference speaking (GFOA, NAST, AEA), and professional association memberships.

Name

Acacia Financial Group

Legal name

Acacia Financial Group, Inc.

Website

https://acaciafin.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2006

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Acacia Financial Group is an independent, women-owned municipal financial advisory firm founded in 2006, serving state agencies, municipalities, school districts, and other governmental entities across the U.S. with debt, derivative, redevelopment, and consulting advisory services from five regional offices.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Municipal Financial Advisory

NAICS

Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940)

SIC

Finance Services (6199), Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

Corporate Finance Advisory (Strategic Finance, Capital Structure & Recaps) (FSAEAGAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

Debt Advisory & Financing Advisory (FSAEAGAD), Treasury, Capital Structure & Liquidity Advisory (BPAHADAM)

Keywords

• Municipal financial advisory
• Debt advisory services
• Public sector consulting
• Government bond advisory
• Derivatives advisory

Headquarters

HQ city

Mount Laurel

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Financial Advisory Services: Professional fees for comprehensive municipal financial advisory services including plan of finance development and execution, debt structuring, competitive and negotiated transactions, derivatives advisory, and consulting engagements.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Acacia Financial Group is an independent municipal financial advisory firm that provides debt advisory, consulting, derivatives advisory, and redevelopment advisory services to governmental entities and non-profit organizations. The firm delivers plan of finance development, competitive and negotiated bond transactions, derivative product advisory, cash-flow modeling, rating agency presentations, and comprehensive debt portfolio management across sectors including general municipal, primary education, energy, transportation, healthcare, higher education, and water/wastewater. Services are delivered through professional advisory engagements supported by proprietary in-house valuation and modeling software.

Product overview

Acacia Financial Group is a municipal financial advisory firm providing independent financial guidance to governmental entities and non-profit organizations. The firm operates as a single-service practice organized around four core advisory disciplines — Debt Advisory Services, Consulting Services, Derivatives Advisory, and Redevelopment Advisory — delivered by a team of shareholders and professionals with domain expertise across sectors including general municipal, education, energy, transportation, healthcare, higher education, water/wastewater, and public-private partnerships. The firm is SEC and MSRB registered, women-owned, and ranked among the top municipal advisory firms in the nation. No software-as-a-product or technology platform is offered; all services are delivered through professional advisory engagements.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Debt Advisory Services Financial advisory for government entities including state agencies, counties, municipalities, school districts, fire districts, and regional authorities. Covers competitive and negotiated transactions, private placements, general obligation and revenue-backed bonds, fixed and variable rate securities, and note issuances.
• Consulting Services Strategic consulting engagements including multi-year plans, management assessments, early retirement feasibility studies, energy conservation analysis, regionalization studies, acquisition studies, public-private partnership studies, economic impact studies, and capital/budget planning and development.
• Derivatives Advisory Advisory on derivative products including forward purchase and sale agreements, repurchase agreements, swaps, swaptions, and forward/warrant agreements. Includes pricing of spot and forward starting swaps, basis swaps, total return swaps, CAPS, and European, Bermudan and American option swaptions using proprietary valuation software and Bloomberg data.
• Redevelopment Advisory Financial advisory on redevelopment projects in New Jersey, including commercial, housing, retail, recreational, parking, transportation, and mixed-use development. Includes pro-forma modeling, plan of finance development, and transaction execution utilizing bond structures under New Jersey Redevelopment Area Bond financing statutes, Redevelopment Area Bonds (RABs), New Market Tax Credits Security, Public Private-Partnerships (P3), and General Revenue Bond Issues.
• Client Sector Coverage Financial advisory services across the following client sectors: General Municipal, Primary Education, Energy, Derivatives, Transportation/Parking, Healthcare, Higher Education, Water/Wastewater, Exhibition/Convention/Sport Center, and Public Private Partnerships.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over $16 billion of bond financings completed by senior professionals

Named customers8 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Public Financial Management (PFM): PFM is one of the largest independent municipal advisory firms in the U.S., providing debt advisory, financial planning, and investment advisory services to state and local governments. It is a direct competitor to Acacia, and is explicitly named as a former employer of multiple Acacia founding shareholders, confirming direct competition for talent and clients.
• Ehlers: Ehlers is a Midwest-headquartered independent municipal advisory and public finance firm serving state and local governments across the country. It is closely comparable to Acacia as a similarly sized, independent advisor competing for the same governmental clients.
• Hilltop Securities: Hilltop Securities is a Dallas-based broker-dealer and municipal advisory firm serving public-sector clients nationwide with debt advisory, underwriting, and structured finance capabilities. It competes with Acacia for municipal advisory mandates, particularly for mid-sized state and regional issuances.
• NW Financial Group: NW Financial Group is an independent municipal advisor providing debt issuance, investment advisory, and arbitrage rebate services to public agencies. It is a direct peer to Acacia in the independent municipal advisory space.

Emerging players

• TKG & Associates: TKG & Associates is an independent public finance and municipal advisory firm serving public agencies with debt issuance and structured finance services. It is comparable to Acacia as a similarly positioned independent advisor competing for governmental mandates.
• Fitch Advisors / PFM-related Independent Municipal Advisors: Backstrom McCarley Berry & Co. is a smaller independent municipal advisory firm serving governmental clients, comparable in size and positioning to Acacia. It competes for similar small-to-mid-mandate municipal advisory work.

Broad incumbents

• Stifel (Public Finance): Stifel, Nicolaus & Company's Public Finance division provides municipal advisory, underwriting, and bond counsel-related services. It is a broad incumbent that competes with Acacia across many of the same state, county, and education sectors.
• RW Baird (Robert W. Baird & Co. Public Finance): Robert W. Baird's Public Finance group provides municipal advisory and underwriting to governmental issuers, with notable strength in the Midwest. It overlaps with Acacia's service offering and competes for many of the same state, school district, and healthcare assignments.
• Piper Sandler (Public Finance): Piper Sandler's Public Finance group provides municipal advisory and underwriting to state, local, and nonprofit issuers across the U.S. It competes with Acacia on state and large-project mandates, with the scale advantage of a national investment bank.
• Raymond James & Associates (Public Finance): Raymond James operates a sizable public finance division offering municipal advisory, underwriting, and investment banking services to governmental issuers. As a diversified national broker-dealer, it offers overlapping services to Acacia's clients but with broader capital markets capacity.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/acacia-financial-group-inc-

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles14 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Acacia Financial Group