Fitch Ratings looked within its own walls to find new leadership for its analytical groups.
The agency promoted Daniel Champeau to group managing director and head of Fitch’s U.S. public finance and global infrastructure and project finance analytical groups.
He is also a member of the Fitch’s analytical executive management team and reports to president Paul Taylor, the agency announced Tuesday.
Champeau now runs the analytical segments of Fitch’s U.S. public finance and the global infrastructure groups.
In his last position, Champeau was responsible for business and relationship management, which involved investor-banker relations, new business origination, and other functions.
“Overall, for U.S. public finance, and specifically given the current extreme focus on the credit conditions of the market, it’s an opportunity for Fitch to continue to add value to the market by providing timely, and opinionated, research and commentary,” Champeau said of his new role.
Champeau worked at Fitch from 1994 to 2007. He rejoined the firm in 2009 after working at Financial Security Assurance Inc. — now Assured Guaranty Municipal Corp. — in the intervening years. Champeau worked in various analytical and management positions at Fitch, including head of the global infrastructure group in the Americas and head of the New York public finance office, as well as all revenue bond and infrastructure rating groups nationwide.
Champeau started his career at Ambac Assurance Co.
“Prior to leading the business and relationship management group, I had years of experience as an analyst, as well as managing some of the analytical functions,” he said.
Fitch’s analytics team leaders remain unchanged.
Richard Raphael, a group managing director, continues to lead the analytical teams for U.S. public finance. Olivier Delfour, a managing director, is still head of the analytical teams for the global infrastructure group, company-wide.
Raphael and Delfour report to Champeau.
Cherian George, also a managing director, continues to lead the global infrastructure group team in North America. He reports to Delfour.
Fitch also appointed Ann Flynn to succeed Champeau as managing director and head of business and relationship management for U.S. public finance and global infrastructure and project finance analytical groups.
She reports to Peter Jordan, group managing director and head of global business and relationship management.
Flynn joined Fitch’s U.S. public finance team in 2008 as the analytical regional manager for the Northeast-Midwest local tax-supported group. Before joining Fitch, she was a managing director at RBC Capital Markets in New York City, where she covered state and local bond issuers in the Northeast.
Before her stint at RBC, Flynn served as the director of public finance for New Jersey. In that post, she was responsible for all debt issues from the state government and its authorities.
