Fisher Investments will not close its Camas offices as it moves its corporate headquarters to Texas, but the financial advisory firm said it will allow staffing numbers in Camas to fall in favor of its office in the Dallas suburbs.
“Our Camas, Wash., facility will remain open,” Naj Srinivas, senior vice president of corporate communications at Fisher Investments, said in an emailed statement late Monday.
The multibillion-dollar money management firm employs more than 1,800 people at its 150-acre campus in Camas and around 1,200 in Plano, Texas, the company said. Fisher is the largest employer in Camas and one of the largest in Clark County.
Srinivas said the company will shift its hiring focus to Plano and increase transfers, which over time will reduce the number of employees in Camas and increase them in Texas. Damian Ornani, the CEO of the company since 2016, already lives in Dallas, as does former CEO Ken Fisher, who serves as executive chairman.
The company announced its headquarters shift in a one-sentence statement Friday, saying the move was in response to the Washington State Supreme Court’s ruling last week upholding a new 7 percent capital gains tax and in recognition of “whatever it may do next.”
Neither state nor city officials were notified of the company’s intentions.
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee’s office said Monday that it was in the dark about Fisher’s intentions.
“We’re not sure what this terse announcement means for the company’s employees in Washington,” Inslee’s deputy communications director and press secretary said in an email. “We’ll be following developments. It’s unfortunate that a company would go to such lengths to avoid a fairer tax system that will benefit working families.”
Fisher Investments manages more than $197 billion in assets globally, including $156 billion for private investors, $39 billion for institutional investors and $2 billion for small to midsized business retirement plans.
Bryan Rachal, spokesperson for the city of Camas, said the city values Fisher Investments as its largest employer.
“Many of their employees reside in Camas, so we hope there’s an opportunity for them to retain their workforce in our city,” Rachal said.
The company moved its headquarters from Woodside, Calif., to Camas in 2015. It has maintained a satellite office in Vancouver since 2007. Fisher lists 15 American offices on its website as well as several overseas.
