Gregory Carey has the municipal industry in his blood.
Carey is a third-generation muni market participant, following his grandfather, Gerald J. Carey, executive director, and ultimately chairman, of the New York City Housing Authority, and his father, Robert H. Carey, a municipal bond attorney with a career that spanned half a century.
"My grandfather built the majority of public housing that exists in New York City after World War II," said Carey, chairman of public finance at Goldman Sachs & Co. and co-head of the firm's Global Sports Finance business.
His father, who began his career at Caldwell, Trimble & Mitchell which then merged with Nixon, Mudge, Rose Guthrie & Alexander, helped create the moral obligation bond.
While he may have stood on the shoulders of giants — his words, echoing Isaac Newton — Carey has become one himself, working on hundreds of innovative transactions that span a gamut of infrastructure sectors, from project finance and surface transportation to stadiums and arenas across the country and Europe.
With 40 years in a storied career as a municipal banker, Carey has built everything from toll roads in Texas to Yankee Stadium to arenas in Spain.
He joined Goldman Sachs as a managing director in 2004 after 22 years at Citigroup where he co-headed the firm's infrastructure group.
Carey said early into his career he knew project finance was the direction he wanted to go.
"I really became a project finance banker because I always felt I needed to contribute more to what the client needed and wanted — be involved, push the business forward, evolve the business," Carey said. "I'd ask myself, what can I do for my clients to make the deal better?"
Carey credits many people in the industry who helped him along the way, but early on, two had a large impact: Bart Livolsi and Frank Chin, who led municipals at Citi, were key to his career success, he said.
"Frank Chin taught me how to count to 10; taught me the math of business," Carey said. "Bart Livolsi taught me how to count to five; he taught me how to talk to elected officials when we needed to get the votes."
"We were taught very, very well the basics at Smith Barney and I think it is a tribute to a lot of the people who came before me," he said.
Navigating that dynamic, Carey and his team are credited with working on more than 40 stadiums around the country, among countless other projects.
"Through project finance, you learn how to build things — ports, airports, waste-to-energy," Carey said. "Understanding project finance ultimately led me to the sports practice I've developed."
His reputation in all projects, though, steered him to involvement in other innovative deals. He was lead on the Power Authority of the State of New York's first-ever green bond deal, a $1.23 billion offering, priced amid the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Adam Barsky, the Power Authority's chief financial officer, said Carey was the natural choice to lead the deal.
"During the pandemic, when it came time for us to do our transaction, it was very high stakes," Barsky said. "I turned to him because I view him as the best public finance banker out there today. Why would I risk doing it with someone else when I was able to get him to focus and dedicate his attention to our deal?"
While it marked the first New York state financing — and one of the first public power deals — to come to market after the onset of the coronavirus-induced market shutdown, this transaction was also the largest public power deal of 2020. Proceeds helped the authority transmit clean energy throughout the state and lay the foundation for a future digital grid. It also won The Bond Buyer's
"Because of my experience with him and seeing all the deals he has done over the course of his career, I consider him to be the best I've seen or worked with," Barsky added.
Others echoed this sentiment.
"Greg's father always used to say, 'a good deal is a closed deal,' and Greg embodies that ethos," said William Hogan, senior managing director of public finance at Assured Guaranty. "He continues to leave his mark on our industry as a thought leader and innovator."
In addition to his work in municipal finance, Carey is vice chair of the Tisch Center Advisory Board at New York University.
Carey was an adjunct professor at NYU and taught a course on the business of sports facilities during his many years affiliated with the school. He said he advised students if all they wanted was a paycheck, they should pursue a different career path than municipals.
"If price is all that you have, get another job," he said. "The most talented bankers are municipal bankers because they understand the full credit package of the issuers they work with."
Carey also serves as chairman for the Children's Academy in New York City. The Children's Academy is an innovative specialized school that teaches children with speech and language delays.
"I have had the pleasure to know Greg personally over the years and have great respect for his integrity, loyalty and support for worthy causes," Hogan, who nominated Carey, said.
Despite challenges for the municipal market the past two years, Carey said cycles happen but there is always work to be done when it comes to building infrastructure.
"Volumes are down, budget pressures are coming along with rising interest rates and the cost of capital. This is a period of pressure, but we'll get through it. '87-91 was horrible compared to this," he added.
"There is a large amount of U.S. infrastructure that needs to be updated and new projects to be built. I know there is innovation out there," he said. "I have always been looking for it and I don't have plans to stop yet."
