DASNY taps Raymond James banker to lead agency

Reuben R. McDaniel III, a veteran public finance banker who has participated in more than $75 billion in tax-exempt bond transactions, has been tapped as the next leader for the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York.

The DASNY board appointed McDaniel as acting president and CEO last week following a recommendation from New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. His nomination is now pending approval from the New York State Senate.

McDaniel arrives at DASNY after four years as a managing director at Raymond James, where he was responsible for municipal bond deals while supporting the firm’s general government practice in New York. He previously founded registered investment advisory firm RM Capital Management in 2011 after spending 11 years as president and CEO of Atlanta-based Jackson Securities LLC.

“I am grateful to Governor Cuomo and the DASNY Board for selecting me to lead DASNY, and for the privilege to serve New York State and its citizens,” said McDaniel in a statement. “The vital social infrastructure projects DASNY is undertaking across the state to broaden opportunities and strengthen our communities are remarkable.”

McDaniel was chair of the Atlanta school board from 2010 to 2014. He received a bachelor's degreein economics and mathematics from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Texas at Austin.

McDaniel replaces Gerrard Bushell, who departed his DASNY leadership post in September to become executive chair of the New Terminal One Development Project at John F. Kennedy International Airport. Bushell helped turn DASNY into the nation’s No. 1 municipal bond issuer during four and a half years leading the conduit agency, which issues debt for clients in higher education, health services and the sciences.

DASNY is set for a busy week with plans to sell $3.2 billion of general purpose personal income tax revenue bonds. Morgan Stanley is slated to price the deal, which features $1.997 billion of tax-exempt Series 2019D bonds and $1.269 billion of taxable Series 2019F debt.

For the 2019 fiscal year that ended March 31, DASNY broke its previous financing record set in 2016 by closing about $8.7 billion in bond issues. Entering this week DASNY had sold $5.51 billion in bonds for the 2019 calendar year including $1.01 billion of taxable debt, according to Refinitiv. The agency was second nationally behind only California in first-half issuance with $3.4 billion of borrowing.