Session #5

Navigating the Muni Market during the Current Recession
4:15 – 5:05 p.m.   
CPE Field of Study: Finance


Experts and colleagues will discuss what it is like accessing the public market during COVID-19. A banking representative will discuss the supply and demand of municipal bonds during the COVID-19 pandemic, market volatility, and new trends or considerations given the overall uncertainty. A representative from the Massachusetts treasurer’s office will discuss recent bond deals and process changes leading up to sale. An institutional investor will discuss how issuer actions, responses and disclosure during the pandemic are driving municipal bond purchase decisions and what if anything would they like to see done differently.

 

	David Andersen has over 30 years of experience in underwriting and trading of competitive and negotiated issues for Merrill Lynch’s Municipal Markets Desk. He is currently in charge of coordinating and overseeing the entire Municipal Markets trading and underwriting desks. In addition to his managerial responsibilities, Mr. Andersen is the senior underwriter for all fixed rate underwritings executed through the municipal desk. His underwriting experience is unparalleled in the industry, as he has underwritten transactions for all major issuers across the country. Mr. Andersen has experience in underwriting all facets of the municipal industry. Mr. Andersen’s expertise includes, but is not limited to, the following: general obligation, real estate, airport, transportation, healthcare, housing, education, tobacco, Indian gaming and pension deals. Mr. Andersen has a B.S. from New York University.
	Sue Perez is the deputy treasurer in the Massachusetts State Treasurer's Office with focus on the commonwealth’s debt management operations. Sue is responsible for all the commonwealth’s short-term and long-term borrowing needs for its $22 billion debt portfolio consisting of issues within the general obligation credit as well as various special obligation credits. Sue also serves as executive director of the Massachusetts Clean Water Trust (MCWT), a position she has held since March of 2012. Since that time she has guided the MCWT through multiple new money and refunding issues, through a structural change in the way its bonds are issued, and through multiple successful issuances of MCWT Green Bonds. Sue has over 25 years of experience in accounting, audit, and financial management. She has been the senior finance director for a $3.4 billion service company, and at the other end of the spectrum was one of the initial members of a start-up company with the responsibility of establishing the finance and human resources departments. Sue was an auditor at Pricewaterhouse Coopers, during which time she received her CPA. She is a graduate of the Boston University School of Management, with a B.S. in business administration. She resides in Foxboro with her husband and their two children.
	James Pruskowski, managing director, is head of the Municipal Institutional & Wealth Management team within BlackRock's Global Fixed Income group. Mr. Pruskowski is a member of BlackRock's Municipal Bond Management Committee, which oversees all municipal bond portfolio management, research and trading.   Prior to joining the Municipal Bond Group in 2003, Mr. Pruskowski spent his early years at BlackRock in Risk & Quantitative Analytics, Portfolio Accounting, and he was a portfolio manager for U.S. pension funds and then global insurance companies.   Mr. Pruskowski earned a B.A. in finance from Fairleigh Dickinson University in 1995.
	Jim MacDonald is a 40-plus year career employee in the Office of State Treasurer Deborah B. Goldberg.  In January 2015, Treasurer Goldberg appointed Jim to the statutory position of first deputy treasurer, where he works closely with other state agencies on matters of policy and operations. Jim is also responsible for overseeing the daily clearing of the commonwealth’s bank accounts, short-term investing in the Massachusetts Municipal Depositary Trust, Small Business Banking Partnership, reconciliation of bank accounts and fund activity. Additional responsibilities include supervising the daily, monthly and quarterly cash flow and investment accounts for various programs and banking relationships.   Jim is the designee of the state treasurer on the Board of Bank Incorporation, Clean Water Trust and the MMDT Advisory Board. He also represents the treasurer at the Massachusetts Collectors and Treasurers Association. As the vice-chair of the State Debt Management Network at the National Association of State Treasurers, Jim is also on the 2017 NAST Program Committee. He also serves on NASACT’s Financial Management and Intergovernmental Affairs Committee and the Training and Professional Development Committee.