Muni Bond Club of NY Adds Panel on Infrastructure to Educational Menu

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The Municipal Bond Club of New York, building on the momentum from its bond school and other educational efforts, hosted an infrastructure panel to raise awareness of the crisis facing the nation.

With more than 100 industry professionals in attendance, participants in last month's event discussed the role municipal bonds can play in addressing the nation's crumbling roads, bridges and other public facilities.

"The speakers were amazing and we discussed everything that gives the nation a report card grade of D+, from the 240,000 water main breaks per year; 4,000 dams that are currently deficient; to the 1 in 9 bridges that are structurally deficient," said Nicolle Brescia, president of the bond club, referring to the grade the ASCE gives the nation's infrastructure. "We then asked the panel to discuss topics such as the use of [public private partnerships], the need for investment and variety of infrastructure projects, and how state and local governments can budget and prioritize these types of needs. The audience was eager to dive in deeper and we opened the floor to questions that tackled climate changes, population shifts and project life-cycles."

The discussion was moderated by Bloomberg Briefs editor Joe Mysak, former editor of The Bond Buyer. Panelists included Pat McCoy, director of finance for the New York MTA, Nancy Feldman, managing director at Wells Fargo Securities, Scott Zuchorski, director at Fitch Ratings, and Mike McDermott, head of municipal research at AIG. Emily Swenson Brock, director federal liaison center for the Government Finance Officers Association, and Casey Dinges, senior managing director of the American Society of Civil Engineers, gave keynote speeches. Interactive Data co-sponsored the panel, which was followed by a cocktail hour on the trading floor of the NYSE.

"The MBCNY and I are thrilled with the success of this year's event. We had a full house, the panel discussion was amazing, and the audience questions shed even more light on the topic of infrastructure," Brescia said. "The event was dynamic and engaging - we may have to extend the length to accommodate for the overwhelming responses we received."

Brescia also said that she is excited to make this panel discussion an annual event that is sure to be one of the highlights of the club each year.

The panel "was a huge success and raised awareness of the crisis, which was the intention," said Jerry Brennan, Municipal bond evaluator at Interactive Data and past president of the MBCNY, who was the master of ceremonies. "What also came across to the audience, besides the cumulative knowledge and experience of the whole panel, was the passion the panel showed for the municipal industry, which was genuine."

Although the club has been around since 1932 and hosts a number of events, it may be best known for bond school, which offers people who are new to the municipal bond industry a 12 week course on basics of the industry each week, and advanced bond school, a deeper dive on topics that change based on what is happening in the market.

The panel discussions, however, may soon rival bond school as the club's best-known event. In 2015, the club held its first panel discussion, on municipal bond liquidity.

The objective of the club is to encourage good fellowship amongst its members and to promote and maintain high standards and principles. For more information and to join, visit https://secure.ice/?http://munibondclubny.org/.

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