DALLAS – A newly created Colorado Municipal Bond Club is recruiting members as it plans its inaugural Vail Ski Outing in March, the club's founders said.
"What motivated us to move ahead with this effort was the overwhelming number of municipal industry people suggesting to several of the members of our group to bring back the Classic Vail Ski Outing from past years," said Alan Murphy, managing director at Stifel, Nicolaus & Co., who will serve as the organization's president.
The popular ski outing has not occurred since the 1990s when the Colorado Municipal Bond Dealers Association hosted the event.
"At the time, the Vail Outing was one of the most popular gatherings of municipal professionals in the country drawing hundreds of participants annually," Murphy said. "With that groundswell behind us, we decided to resurrect the event through a new Bond Club, set dates and move forward."
The Club's Board of Directors is designed to include representatives from all of the firms that participate in the Colorado municipal markets, officials said. The club has launched a
Board members include Dustin Osborn with George K. Baum & Co., Dave Isaak of Isaak Bond Investments, and Robert Bond with the Denver office of Hilliard Lyons.
"Right now our focus is to sign up club members, participants, and sponsors for the Vail Ski Outing which will take place March 22 to March 25 for everyone to have an excellent Colorado spring skiing experience while building relationships," said Joe Kubik, vice president of the club.
Jim Kubik and Joe Kubik, trading and sales specialists with the Denver office of Northland Securities, are the club's co-vice presidents. Evan Slater, trading and sales specialist with Beech Hill Securities, is secretary, and Tom Civitano, managing director at Security Capital Brokerage, Inc., is treasurer.
The initial annual dues is $75 per person, Slater said. Founding members who contribute $1,500 will be added to the board, he said.
"We're hoping to have around 150 members by the time the Vail Outing takes place," Slater said.
"We are open to the idea of members outside Colorado," he added. "We would like to have a broad mix of traders, sales people, underwriters, research people, as well as those on the buy side."
Slater, who once worked in New York, said that the Colorado Bond Club is modeled on the Bond Club of New York and New Jersey and others in San Francisco, Chicago, Minneapolis, Florida, and Baltimore.
"All of us who currently work in and around the Denver area decided it was time to create this club and run events out here in Colorado," Slater said.
"Networking is critical and offers enormous value for everyone as it will absolutely lead to new relationships and strong relationships among those who participate," Slater said. "The municipal bond market has always been a relationship-based business."
