Smith's Muni All-Star Awards Go to 98 Professionals

BRADENTON, Fla. — After being nominated a number of times, 25-year municipal finance vet Julie Egan earned a spot with other top bond market professionals on Smith's Research & Gradings' Top Municipal All-Star Team this year.

Egan, a senior vice president and municipal portfolio manager with Florida-based Community Capital Management Inc., was named to the top housing revenue bond team along with Kurt van Kuller from the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi.

"We are delighted that Julie has received this prestigious honor," said Barbara VanScoy, founder and senior portfolio manager of Community Capital. "Her experience and expertise in the municipal housing sector is impressive, and it is a great honor to have her municipal research recognized nationally."

Egan is based in Charlotte, N.C. She currently serves on the Board of the National Federation of Municipal Bond Analysts, and is president of the Southern Municipal Finance Society.

Some 98 muni professionals received awards in Smith's 20th annual All-Star program last week. They were chosen by nearly 3,000 by institutional investors, the only voters who take part in naming award recipients, according to chief executive officer Terence M. Smith.

"The All-Star Team was founded in 1992 to provide recognition for high-quality analysis conducted for the benefit of investors," Smith said. "Smith's 2012 All-Star Team reflects the founding principles of the program with a wide range of analysts elected from a broad base of market sectors."

Market experts who received first-place honors in various categories this year included John Hallacy with Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Dean Lewallen with AllianceBernstein, Bill Keays with Citi and Mike Rosenthal with Nuveen, Ed Merrigan with B.C. Ziegler & Co., Kurt Krummenacker with Moody's Investors Service, Susan Rhudy with Citi, Moody's Daniel Aschenbach, and Brad Mincke with McDonnell Investments.

Other top recipients were Moody's John Incorvaia, Nuveen's Glen Anderson, Wells Fargo's Dennis Derby, Natalie Cohen with Wells Fargo Securities, Citi's George Friedlander, Peter DeGroot with JPMorgan, McDonnell Investments' Richard Ciccarone, Moody's Gail Sussman, Colleen Woodell with Standard & Poor's, Anne Ross with Roosevelt & Cross, and Ken Anderson with Wells Capital Management.

The All-Star First Team award went to Moody's Investors Service, the Lifetime Achievement Award was given to Mary Jo Ochson with Federated Investors, and the Deal of the Year went to the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico for its more than $2 billion public improvement refunding bonds.

Some 72 second- and third-place winners also received awards.