John Trahan, an 18-year veteran of the municipal credit enhancement industry, has recently joined the public finance department of financial guarantor Assured Guaranty Corp. in its New York City office.
As a managing director, Trahan, who came on board on June 12, is responsible for overseeing and developing public finance business in the eastern region of the country where Assured is planning to boost its presence and market share. He reports to Kathy Evers, managing director of the company's public finance group.
Before joining Assured, Trahan was a director at BNP Paribas in New York City, where he was responsible for developing the international bank's public finance franchise in the eastern and southern United States.
In the early part of his career, Trahan was an underwriter in the financial institutions group at the former Interfirst Bank, which later became Bank of America. Later, he entered the public finance industry, working at several letter-of-credit banks, including Texas Commerce Bank and Sumitomo Bank, both in Houston, and CIBC Bank and KBC Bank, both in Los Angeles.
Trahan will be "an integral part" of the firm's intended public finance growth in the eastern region, said John Schozer, president of Assured, in a press release. "John's credit and business development experience make him a significant addition to an already strong team," he said.
Assured is rated Aa1 by Moody's Investors Service, and AAA by Standard & Poor's and Fitch Ratings. The insurer showed significant progress in the municipal credit enhancement market in the first quarter of 2006, according to Thomson Financial data.
Assured ranked eighth for the quarter among top bond insurers, and quadrupled its tax-exempt underwriting totals to $419.3 million from the same period last year, according to Thomson.
In addition to financial guaranty insurance in the U.S., Assured is also a provider in the international public finance, structured finance, and mortgaged-backed securities markets. Its holding company, Assured Guaranty Ltd., is based in Bermuda.
