Former colleagues remember David Taylor as a banker who helped many younger people along their career paths.
“He was extremely diligent, and a hard worker who mentored many of the junior people who went on to become respected members of the quantitative group at UBS,” said former supervisor Joseph Monitto.
Mr. Taylor, the senior vice president of capital markets for the Government Development Bank for Puerto Rico, died Sept. 23 at the age of 52.
His banking career spanned 23 years and covered Bank of America, UBS and Morgan Stanley. “Dave was a great colleague and friend,” the GDB, the financing arm of Puerto Rican government, said in a statement.
Mr. Taylor joined the GDB in February 2009 to structure capital market deals and assumed his most recent role on March 1. Previously, he served in similar capacities for municipal departments of major investment banks for 23 years, including 10 years each at Morgan Stanley and UBS.
He worked at UBS under Monitto, who is now a principal consultant at Cfx Inc. “David went about his business in a quiet way,” Monitto said. “Some people just get it when it comes to looking at the big picture. He was able to see the pieces of the puzzle and was a valuable resource on the client side.”
At UBS Investment Bank, Mr. Taylor served as executive director of the quantitative group. He oversaw all aspects of financings, including derivatives products, for large clients such as New York City, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, and the State of California.
Michael Mace worked with Mr. Taylor at Morgan Stanley and recruited him to PaineWebber. UBS bought Paine Webber in 2000. "He worked on some of the largest, most complicated transactions in the market," said Mace, now a managing director at PFM Group. "He was always the 'go to guy' with tough tax and quant questions. But more importantly, he was a pleasure to work with -- very giving of his time, intellect, and especially his everpresent wit."
At Morgan Stanley, where Mr. Taylor rose to co-head of the municipal capital markets group, he worked on taxable and tax-exempt refundings that totaled more than $15 billion. Most notably, he devised a $1 billion financing plan for the City University of New York that enabled the city and state to realize more than $100 million in upfront savings. He also advised on a $2 billion refunding plan for the Municipal Assistance Corp. of New York.
Jeanny Pak, now a banker with Jefferies, was a protege of Mr. Taylor who worked with him for 13 years at PaineWebber and UBS. "I remember him for the time and energy spent helping junior folks and he didn't make a big deal out of it," she said.
Mr. Taylor attended Gravesend School for Boys as a youth and graduated from St. Andrews University in Scotland with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics. He began his career as a tax analyst at Mudge Rose in New York.
A memorial service has been scheduled for Puerto Rico on Monday. Another is planned for 5 p.m. Oct. 7 in New York City, at St. Malachy’s (The Actors’ Chapel) at 239 West 49th St. in Manhattan. Efforts to establish a memorial fund are underway.
