Muni bond veteran Tom Kozlik joined Hilltop Securities Inc. as director and head of municipal strategy and credit.
Kozlik, who began Monday, will work closely with Hilltop’s underwriters, investment bankers, retail advisors, traders and sales desk. He also intends to publish regular commentary and establish a presence on social and traditional media for the firm.
His experience spans two decades. Most recently he was managing director and municipal strategist at PNC Capital Markets, advising clients on a variety of credit profiles. Previously he was managing director and municipal credit analyst at Janney Montgomery Scott.
In addition, he has published commentary on the municipal markets. In 2018, Smith’s Research & Gradings included Kozlik on the first team in the generalist category of its Municipal All-Star Team.
“His extensive industry experience and unique market insight will enhance the services we provide across our diverse mix of businesses,” said Hilltop president and chief executive Brad Winges. “Tom will be an important asset for our public finance, fixed income, and retail brokerage professionals and clients.”
Kozlik for the past five years has conducted an annual survey of muni analysts. The most recent, released late last month, revealed that public pensions, while still the top concern, is falling in importance as other issues become more significant.
The level of municipal issuers’ fiscal preparedness for the next recession — a topic not included in his 2018 survey — ranked second. The impact of U.S. demographic shifts is gaining traction with analysts, while the importance of infrastructure jumped into the top five.
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Kozlik has also held associate director positions with Bear Stearns and UBS. He was voted to Institutional Investor’s All-America Fixed Income Research Team and Greenwich Associates named him one of the most helpful analysts in municipal bonds in 2015.
In addition, Kozlik is a founding officer and former president of the Philadelphia Area Municipal Analyst Society, a not-for-profit association with members in the Philadelphia region, including southern New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland. He is also an advisor to the Government Finance Officers Association’s committee on government debt management.
Kozlik has also taught graduate-level public finance courses at the University of Pennsylvania’s Fels Institute of Government, where he earned a master of government administration.
He earned a bachelor’s degree in political science with honors from Pennsylvania State University scholars program.
Dallas-based Hilltop has offices across the U.S. Areas of focus include public finance; municipal and taxable fixed income underwriting, sales, and trading; equity and portfolio trading; retail brokerage services; securities clearing; structured finance; and securities lending.
