The Municipal Bond Club of New York is looking to foster the camaraderie that characterized the market in the 1970s, when all of the major firms were located within walking distance and social activity centered at Harry's at Hanover Square in lower Manhattan.
"That is one of the things this current club is trying to regain, because we are all about a sense of community," Jerry Brennan, a muncipal bond evaluator at Interactive Data who was named president of the club last month, told The Bond Buyer. "We are in a growth period and we want to pull the curtains back and let people see what we do and how we do it."
Brennan and other officers were installed at a Town Hall, which they hope to make an annual event. An open board meeting was held to gain support and volunteers from among the current members as the more-than-400 member club looks to expand its ranks.
"This is your club and we encourage all our members' input and contributions," Brennan told attendees at the Town Hall. "At the conclusion of this event there should be no doubt in your mind as to our mission and why members such as yourselves have maintained our high standards and are striving to take the club to new and higher standards each year."
Brennan said he wants to emphasize that the club is more inclusive, not exclusive, and that the current members come from many more sectors of the business: electronic trading platforms, bond insurance, alternative trading system brokers, rating services, evaluation services, the buy-side, electronic bidding companies, data information services and analytical firms.
In addition to Brennan, the club named Nicolle Brescia from Morgan Stanley as vice president; Nick Krzemienski of Standard and Poor's as treasurer and Adam Farrell of BNY Mellon Capital Markets as secretary.
The club's 2015 board of governors includes: Brad Harris of Douglas & Co.; Colleen Meehan of Dreyfus; Jack Archibald of Fitch Ratings; Jim Newman of TMC Bonds; Mike Goin of Barclays Capital Inc.; Stephen Siegel of Chapdelaine & Co.; William Grimes of Roosevelt & Cross; and Jim Kenny of Tradeweb.
The MBCNY's events include a rooftop cocktail reception, a golf outing, an award dinner, charity drives, bond school, advanced bond school, a topical panel discussion, and a holiday party that has been held annually for 82 years.
This year's session of the club's bond school from February through April had 72 in class and 65 webinar participants, the first time it has been hosted at Bloomberg. The club will also be conducting an advanced bond school, a five-to-six week speaker series that is designed to be a deep dive into the top industry topics.
"Those that will benefit most are the more experienced muni professionals that have already completed the club's original bond school," Brescia said. "We are always looking to bring new topics to the table and try to structure the series around those topics that are most important today. Topics in the past have included CCRC's, derivative hedging and a breakdown of Puerto Rico credits."
The advanced series is planned to start at the end of September at the Bloomberg building.
The club is also planning a panel discussion at the end of the advanced school with some well-known municipal figures.
The rooftop outing last year had 211 attendees from all over the country as well as 28 sponsors. This year's turnout on June 10 is expected to be larger, as hotels room have been reserved to make it easier for those coming from out of town.
The golf outing on June 11, where the Municipal Underwriters & Traders Trust Shares raffle tickets are drawn. A portion of the proceeds from the MUTTS tickets are donated to charity, last year's charity was the Wall Street Warfighters Foundation and this year's charity has yet to be determined.
The MBCNY was established in 1932 and is a professional organization whose objective is to encourage good fellowship amongst its members and to promote and maintain high standards and principles. For more information you can visit them at
