LAS VEGAS - The National Federation of Municipal Analysts presented awards to six muni market professionals during a luncheon at its annual conference here on Wednesday.
The awards, presented annually by the NFMA since 1984, recognize individuals or entities that further the federation's goal to improve the municipal bond industry. This year's awards committee chairman, Susan Dushock, a senior vice president at SunTrust Bank, presided over the ceremony.
Terence Smith, chairman and chief executive officer of Smith's Research & Gradings, received an industry contributions award. Dushock said the committee wanted to recognize Smith for his "independent voice in the municipal market, his courage to discuss controversial issues and his longstanding role in acknowledging superior credit work of municipal professionals through the All-Star Municipal Analyst award program." That award is given to outstanding muni analysts every year.
The Award of Excellence went to Dean Mead, research manager at the Governmental Accounting Standards Board. Dushock praised Mead for his dedication, particularly the in-person workshops he administered for each of the NFMA's six constituent societies during 2013 and 2014. Mead called that work "a labor of love" and said he would do it full-time if he could.
Jason Kissane a managing director at Assured Guaranty who has served on the NFMA Board since 2011, received an Award for Meritorious Service. Dushock said Kissane quickly assumed a leadership role at the NFMA including two years as chair of its disclosure committee. Kissane is currently overseeing efforts to release several recommended best practices papers on sectors ranging from general obligation to charter school bonds, the NFMA said.
Bob Kurtter, who retired from Moody's Investors Service last month after more than 23 years at the agency, received the Career Achievement Award.
"The committee wanted to recognize Bob for his role as a mentor and resource to many in the industry, always available to talk through issues specific to a credit or to broader issues in the market," Dushock said. "He was always interested to hear what others in the market had to say. Those outside the rating agencies felt that he helped push those inside Moody's to keep these issues in mind when working on ratings. There are few like him in the industry and he will certainly be missed."
Eric Vandercar received a posthumous award that his widow, Jill Shiner Vandercar, was on hand to accept. Vandercar, who was senior managing director and head of municipal funding at Mesirow Financial, died at 53 in the Metro-North commuter train accident earlier this year. A visibly emotional Dushock paid Vandercar tribute.
"Throughout his over 30-year career in the municipal market, Eric worked tirelessly to help educate participants on many aspects of the market," she said. "He worked as a municipal strategist for many years at Morgan Stanley, during which time he received many industry accolades. He then turned his attention to the growing municipal securitization market, developing Morgan Stanley's proprietary and third-party tender option bond programs.
"Eric was a steadfast proponent of standardization in the industry and was among the first to champion the recent industry movement in that direction," Dushock said. "Eric saw the opportunity provided by regulatory changes to develop a common set of documents for much of the TOB market and worked tirelessly to help move a reluctant, fractured industry toward this eminently sensible goal. All of those involved in the 'Common Document Initiative' were helped by the ground work laid by Eric in this area. His intellect and persuasiveness were hard to ignore, but he also understood the need for compromise to move a disparate group toward a greater common goal. His untimely death on Feb. 3, 2015 left a huge hole in the industry which will be difficult to fill."
California Treasurer John Chiang also received an Excellence in Disclosure Award in recognition of the state's new open data website listing financial data for cities and counties as part of an ongoing effort to promote transparency in government. Chiang was unable to attend, but did send the conference a thank-you video message.
