The State of the Municipal Securities Markets - Hearing Participant Biographies
The Honorable Bill Lockyer
Treasurer of the State of California
With his election in November 2006 as California's 32nd State Treasurer, Bill Lockyer continues a career in public service that has spanned more than three decades. As California Attorney General from 1999-2006, Mr. Lockyer left a lasting legacy of landmark achievements. He successfully fought to protect the environment, civil rights, and consumers, recovering more than $6.5 billion for defrauded energy ratepayers and taxpayers. During his 25-year career in the Legislature that culminated in a stint as leader of the State Senate, Mr. Lockyer crafted agreements to balance the state budget and reform government programs to make them run more efficiently.
A graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, Lockyer earned his law degree from McGeorge School of Law, and also received a teaching credential from California State University, Hayward. He is married to Nadia Maria Lockyer and has a daughter, Lisa, and son, Diego.
As Treasurer, Mr. Lockyer's priorities include investing wisely to ensure California's economic needs are addressed, including creating jobs and new clean technology industries while saving energy, water and taxpayer dollars and reducing greenhouse gas emissions; investing pension funds prudently to promote retirement security while examining the financial ramifications of climate change; and finding ways to make health care affordable and available for everyone.
Mary Colby
On behalf of the National Federation of Municipal Analysts
Mary Colby is representing the National Federation of Municipal Analysts where she serves on the Executive Committee of the Board of Governors and is the Chair of the Industry Practices Committee.
Ms. Colby is a Managing Director and the Head of the Municipal Fixed Income Research Group for Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. in San Francisco, California, a position she has held since 2004. Ms. Colby joined the research group in 1996. Her team of six analysts provides research and support for four municipal bond funds and seven municipal money market funds whose assets total over $30 billion.
Prior to joining Charles Schwab, she spent six years as a public finance analyst at Standard & Poor's Corp. in New York.
Ms. Colby holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Arts in European History from Northwestern University, Evanston, Ill. She also sits on several advisory committees for the Investment Company Institute, including those for fixed income and money market funds. She is a past President of the California Society of Municipal Analysts and is a member of the Society of Municipal Analysts.
John McNally
On behalf of the National Association of Bond Lawyers
Mr. McNally is a partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Hawkins Delafield & Wood LLP and a member of the firm's Management Committee. He is currently President-Elect of the National Association of Bond Lawyers ("NABL"). He was an attorney in the Municipal Securities Branch of the Division of Market Regulation, Securities and Exchange Commission from 1976 to 1979. At the Commission, he was a member of the Municipal Securities Disclosure Task Force. Mr. McNally graduated from Georgetown University Law Center in 1976 and from the University of Pennsylvania (cum laude) in 1972.
Mr. McNally's practice includes both a securities practice and a public finance transactional practice. He is a frequent speaker regarding the application of the federal securities laws to public finance transactions, was a moderator at the SEC's Municipal Market Roundtable in October 1999 (the only non-SEC employee so honored), served as Vice-Chair (2000-2001) and Chair (2002) of NABL's Securities Law and Disclosure Committee, and was a co-editor of the initial three editions of the Federal Securities Laws of Municipal Bonds Deskbook. Mr. McNally served as Project Coordinator for the Third Edition of DISCLOSURE ROLES OF COUNSEL IN STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT SECURITIES OFFERINGS, a joint publication of the American Bar Association and NABL that was published in October 2009, which was reviewed as "an indispensable reference for issuers and for their counsel as a result of the clarity and accessibility of the presentation."
Hawkins currently serves as Disclosure Counsel to the City of San Diego and the District of Columbia, and Mr. McNally is the principal contact for each of those engagements. In addition, Hawkins represented the Municipal Advisory Council of Texas with respect to its efforts to develop the first Central Post Office (CPO) to serve as a voluntary, one-stop filing for municipal disclosure. Mr. McNally assisted Texas MAC in obtaining a favorable SEC interpretive letter that approved the use of the CPO as a means of providing continuing disclosure in compliance with Rule 15c2-12. In connection with the turmoil in the auction rate market in 2007-2008, Mr. McNally prepared on behalf of NABL the federal securities law portion of the February 27, 2008, memorandum "Commonly-Asked Questions regarding Securities and Tax Implications of Auction Rate Bond Market Turmoil," and co-authored the January 26, 2010 NABL advisory "Certain Federal Securities Law Aspects of 'Tax Credit' Bonds."
The Honorable Michael D. Belsky
Mayor of Highland Park, Illinois
Michael D. Belsky currently works for C. W. Henderson, as a Municipal Bond Investment Advisor in Chicago.
In December, 2008, Michael D. Belsky was appointed to the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB). The GASB sets accounting standards for State and Local governments in the United States.
Between May 1993 to March 2009, Mr. Belsky was the Group Managing Director, Public Finance for Fitch Ratings. His primary responsibilities included managing more than 80 individuals based in seven offices throughout the United States engaged in municipal credit analysis for all major sectors in the municipal bond market. Also in this capacity, he oversaw all investor relations, business development and administration for the public finance group. Additionally, Michael was the administrative head of the entire Chicago office for Fitch Ratings. Previously, he served as co-head of the public finance department. Before being named to the co-head position, Michael was managing director for regional business development and investor and dealer relations. He started with Fitch Ratings in 1993 as senior director and Midwest regional manager.
Prior to Fitch Ratings, Michael was with Chicago-based Mesirow Financial Inc. for more than five years as a senior vice president. While with Mesirow, he was responsible for establishing and running a full-service public finance department. Previous to this, Michael worked for The Northern Trust Co. in Chicago as a second vice president in public finance and municipal underwriting. In addition, Michael has served as an assistant to the Illinois attorney general's office where he provided research support for legislation.
Michael earned a B.A. in local and regional studies from Lake Forest College and an M.A. from the University of Chicago's Harris School of Public Policy Studies. He served two terms on the Highland Park, IL City Council and is currently serving his second term as mayor. As mayor, Michael serves as a member of the Finance Committee and the city's Parking Commission. Currently, Michael is a board member of the Highland Park Hospital Foundation, which oversees a fund used for health related grants to community groups located in the hospital's service area. Professionally, he is a board member of the Municipal Bond Club of Chicago and a co-chair of the club's Education Committee.
Mark Blake
Office of the City Attorney of San Francisco, California
Mr. Blake is currently Deputy City Attorney for the City and County of San Francisco, and provides in-house counsel to the City for all of its debt offerings. Prior to that, Mr. Blake was Chief Deputy City Attorney for Finance and Disclosure for the City of San Diego, and Deputy General Counsel for the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. Before entering government service, Mr. Blake worked for the law firm of Brown & Wood (now Sidley Austin LLP), and served as bond counsel, underwriter's counsel and disclosure counsel for all forms of governmental debt issuances. Mr. Blake graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, in Industrial Psychology, received his law degree from The Georgetown University Law Center and is Masters of Business Administration from the Wharton School of Business.
Daniel E. Kiefer
California Public Employees' Retirement System
Mr. Kiefer joined CalPERS in August 1993. He is currently the Opportunistic Portfolio Manager within the Global Fixed Income Unit and oversees the Securities Lending Program, Credit Enhancement Program, and Fixed Income opportunistic based strategies. As the manager of the Securities Lending Program, Dan provides direction and oversight for the program and led the development of an on-line principal bidding process. While developing the on-line bidding process, he formed a joint venture with eSecLending, who assists major institutional investors worldwide in designing and implementing customized securities lending programs.
Dan holds the professional designation of Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), which was granted in September 1994. His education includes two degrees from the University of Colorado, a Masters of Business Administration, Accounting and a Bachelor of Science, Finance with a concentration in investment and portfolio analysis.
The Honorable James McIntire
Treasurer of Washington State
James McIntire was elected as Washington's 22nd State Treasurer in 2008. Prior to this election, he was a successful business economist for Navigant Consulting Inc. McIntire earned his PhD in economics at the University of Washington, where he founded and directed a fiscal policy center and taught economics for 25 years. He began his political career working in the U.S. Senate for Hubert Humphrey, and served as a policy advisor to congressional committee chairmen and Washington governors. He has chaired statewide boards for economic development and nonprofit housing.
As a five-term State Representative, McIntire provided leadership on several financial committees. He sponsored the first state law making identity theft a crime, a constitutionally protected, "Rainy Day Account," performance audits, priorities of government budgeting, and the new Citizen Commission for Performance Measurement of Tax Preferences. During a budget shortfall, McIntire helped to re-enact the estate tax and raise cigarette taxes to pay for schools and children's health care.
As State Treasurer, McIntire has focused his attention on the safety and security of public funds, the integration of sound financial management throughout state government, and the need for long term financial planning to meet the education and transportation needs of Washington's economy.
David Crane
The Governor's Office of California
David Crane is Special Advisor to the Governor for Jobs and Economic Growth. Before joining the Schwarzenegger Administration in 2004, Crane was a partner for 25 years with a financial services firm that he helped grow from one office with five employees when he joined in 1979 to a multinational enterprise with hundreds of employees by the time he retired from the firm in 2003. Crane also sits on the boards of the California Economic Development Commission, the California High Speed Rail Authority, and Building America's Future, the coalition established by California Governor Schwarzenegger, Pennsylvania Governor Rendell and New York City Mayor Bloomberg to promote US infrastructure investment. Crane is a trustee of the Carla & David Crane Foundation and the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco and an advisory trustee of the Environmental Defense Fund, and formerly was a trustee of the Djerassi Resident Artists Program, Legal Services for Children, and the San Francisco Day School. He graduated from the University of Michigan and UC Hastings College of the Law, where he was an editor of the law review, and lives in San Francisco with his wife and two children.
James Lanzarotta
Moss Adams LLP
Jim is the leader for the firm's governmental services group, and his area of practice includes government and GASB-reporting not-for-profit organizations including, cities, counties, port and transportation authorities, university and college foundations, public retirement systems, sewer and water districts, and numerous other organizations. He is a 1984 graduate of the University of Oregon where he obtained a Bachelor of Business Administration degree, obtained his CPA license in 1986, and became an Oregon Municipal Auditor in 1993. Jim supplemented his governmental training by obtaining the AICPA Certificate of Achievement in Governmental Accounting and Auditing. He has been providing audit, compliance, and consulting services to the Firm's governmental clients his entire career. Jim is the current chair of the AICPA State & Local Government Expert Panel responsible for reviewing proposed governmental auditing and accounting standards and addressing current practice issues, and is a sought after speaker at a national and local level. He is married, and in his spare time enjoys traveling, running, and spending time with family.
Brian Mayhew
Bay Area Toll Authority
Brian Mayhew joined the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) as Chief Financial Officer in October 1999. As CFO, Mr. Mayhew manages all accounting, treasury, and financial functions, including debt issuance and management for MTC, MTC Service Authority for Freeways and Expressways (SAFE), and the Bay Area Toll Authority (BATA).
As CFO of MTC/BATA, Mr. Mayhew has overseen the growth of the toll operation from $120 million to over $750 million per year; transportation grant administration to nearly $1billion annually, as well as a capital program that has expanded from $2.4 billion to over $13 billion, including the $6.2 billion replacement of the San Francisco/Oakland Bay Bridge. Mr. Mayhew is responsible for a debt portfolio of $7.5 billion, swap portfolio of $1.7 billion, with assets under management of $4.5 billion. BATA has been the recipient of three Bond Buyer Western Region Deal of the Year awards and one Governing Magazine national deal of the year.
Prior to working at MTC, Mr. Mayhew spent ten years as Finance Director for the City of Westminster, California where he oversaw accounting, payroll and treasury, as well as redevelopment and economic development project funding. During his term, Mr. Mayhew experienced the Orange County bankruptcy first hand, but had no investments at stake having removed invested funds from the pool six months prior to the bankruptcy. Prior to working for the City of Westminster, Mr. Mayhew served for five years in Mountain View, California as Revenue Officer.
Mr. Mayhew holds Bachelor's and Master's degrees from the University of California at Santa Barbara, along with multiple certifications in accounting, payroll, purchasing, cash and debt management. Mr. Mayhew is active in both state and national professional associations and has served on the Issuer Advisory Committee of the MSRB.
Nathaniel R. Singer
Swap Financial Group, LLC
Mr. Singer is a Partner at Swap Financial Group, the nation's leading independent swap advisor. Prior to joining Swap Financial Group, Mr. Singer spent 21 years at Bear Stearns where he was the head of Bear Stearns' Municipal Derivative Products Group and Chief Operating Officer of the Municipal Bond Department from 1998 to 2007. In these roles, he was responsible for the design and implementation of innovative financial products to help municipal issuers lower their debt service cost, increase earnings on assets and hedge interest rate risk. Mr. Singer also managed Bear Stearns' Tender Option Bond program. Prior to joining the Municipal Derivative Products Group, Mr. Singer managed Bear Stearns' proprietary tax-exempt bond position from 1987 to 1998 and served as National Sales Manager for the Municipal Bond Department from 1995 to 1998. He is a frequent speaker on topics relating to both the municipal cash market as well as the derivatives market, and has authored numerous papers focusing on financing and trading opportunities in the municipal market. Mr. Singer received a B.S.E. in Civil Engineering from Princeton University in 1983.
Ed Harrington
San Francisco Public Utilities Commission
Ed Harrington is General Manager of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC), overseeing the regional utility that delivers reliable, high quality drinking water to more than 2.5 million Bay Area customers, collects and treats wastewater and stormwater for the City and County of San Francisco and provides hydroelectric and other renewable power resources for San Francisco municipal customers.
From 1991 to 2008, Harrington served as the Controller of the City and County of San Francisco, where he administered San Francisco's $6.1 billion budget.
Ed is a Certified Public Accountant. He has served as President of the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada, an organization representing 17,500 local, state and provincial finance officials. Ed is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Financial Accounting Foundation which oversees the activities of the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) and the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB).
Stan Keller
Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge LLP
A partner in the Boston office of Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge LLP, Stan Keller has extensive experience in corporate and securities law, and has worked on regulatory developments with officials at all levels in the SEC. He recently completed a three-year engagement as the Independent Consultant for the City of San Diego pursuant to the City's SEC enforcement order. He chaired the American Bar Association's Committee on Federal Regulation of Securities during the height of the Sarbanes-Oxley era, and in that capacity had responsibility for interacting on behalf of the private bar with the SEC, other governmental officials and the stock exchanges. He was actively involved with the ABA's Task Force dealing with the SEC's attorney conduct rules, with the ABA Task Force on Corporate Responsibility and with the ABA Task Force on Attorney-Client Privilege. Mr. Keller lectures widely for continuing legal education organizations, and has written and edited many articles and treatises on corporate and securities law matters.
Michael Rufino has been with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), which is the result of the merger between the NASD and New York Stock Exchange Regulation, for over twenty-two years and is presently the Chief Operating Office of Member Regulation - Sales Practice. His career has covered both the Financial/Operational (FinOp) and Sales Practice programs in Member Regulation working 10 years on the FinOp side of the business and the last 12 years in the area of Sales Practice. Mr. Rufino graduated Magna Cum Laude from Iona College with a degree in Finance. In addition, he received his MBA with honors in Management Information Systems from Iona.
Andy Gill
Charles Schwab & Co., Inc.
Andy Gill oversees the Fixed Income organization at Charles Schwab, responsible for all aspects of Schwab's fixed income offering including trading, sales, service, and strategy supporting the Investor Services and Advisor Services businesses.
Prior to his current position, Gill was Senior Vice President of Investor Services - Client Experience and Delivery. In this role, he was responsible for leading the pricing, products, services and delivery channel strategies, in addition to leading delivery teams focused on portfolio consulting, fixed income sales and service, and active investor sales.
Prior to this role, Gill lead the Client Experience Support team, responsible for pricing, products, services, acquisition and delivery channel strategies.
Gill began his career at Charles Schwab in 2001 as Vice President of CyberTrader Marketing, known today as Schwab's Active Investor group. Prior to joining Schwab, he spent 18 months as Chief Marketing Officer at Cofiniti, a wealth management software company serving financial service institutions. Prior to Cofiniti, he was Chief Marketing Officer at Rx.com.
Gill also spent six years in various marketing and general management roles at Genesco, Inc., a men's wholesale and retail footwear company; and eight years at Procter and Gamble in sales management and brand management roles.
Gill holds a BA in economics from Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
Peter Kuhn
IBP Insurance Services
Mr. Kuhn is an entrepreneur and executive, as well as a recognized leader and top producer in the employee benefit industry. He is the principal and founder of IBP Insurance Services, which was recognized as one of the top 100 Fast Growing Privately Held Companies by San Jose Business Journal from 1992 to 1995. A successful and seasoned investor of real estate, venture capital, and private equity, Mr. Kuhn's additional areas of expertise include healthcare reform, ERISA, HIPAA, IRS code, SOX, as well as financial accounting and reporting practices. Prior to his work at IBP Insurance Services, Mr. Kuhn was an account executive at CIGNA and an accountant at Price Waterhouse & Company. Mr. Kuhn received a B.S. in Commerce and Accounting from Santa Clara University.
Presentation - Municipal Bonds - A Winding Road
Jason Lehman
Headlands Technologies LLC
Jason Lehman is the founder and co-CEO of Headlands Technologies, a global quantitative trading company headquartered in San Francisco and Chicago. He is based in the San Francisco area.
Prior to founding Headlands, Mr. Lehman, age 36, worked in various roles for Citadel Investment Group in Chicago. Most recently, Mr. Lehman started and ran the global options market making business for Citadel, growing this operation to be one of the largest market makers in the world. Before starting that business, he was involved in several fixed income businesses, where he developed an interest in the municipal bond markets.
Mr. Lehman served on the Board of Directors of the International Securities Exchange (ISE) from 2004-2008, serving as a member of the ISE's executive committee from 2007-2008.
Mr. Lehman graduated from the Wharton School of The University of Pennsylvania in 1996 with a B.S. in Economics. He has been an investor in municipal bonds for over a decade.
Mr. Siminoff is a World War II veteran, who served in the Pacific Theatre with the 296 Anti-Aircraft Search Light Team of the 98th Division. Upon returning to the states, Mr. Siminoff became a Sales Manager at a high tech firm, which specialized in bridge cranes, hoists, and materials handling, both in private and public sectors. After that, Mr. Siminoff became the West Coast Sales Manager of the Electric Autolite Division at Ford Motor Company. In that role, he introduced off-highway applications of state-of-the-art electronic and electro mechanical components. In 1964, Mr. Siminoff established his own business as a design consultant and distributor of microwave hardware, specifically coaxial cables, filters, connectors, and transformers to be used in space, medicine, instrumentation, and voice communication. He has degrees from the University of California at Berkeley in mechanical engineering and business. At Berkeley, Mr. Siminoff began investing in Wall Street. He phased into bonds in the early 1980s.