Longtime municipal investment banker, industry leader, and public policy advocate Chris Hamel has returned to the muni market after less than a year in retirement, joining the ranks of Municipal Market Analytics.
Hamel retired on Feb. 1, 2018, after 15 years as managing director and head of the municipal finance group at RBC Capital, a firm where he spent his entire 35-year public finance career. On Tuesday, he stepped out of retirement and into a newly-created role at MMA as the independent research firm’s first-ever senior fellow, the Concord, Massachusetts-based firm said.
Hamel will discuss his views concerning public policy and the evolution of U.S. infrastructure, as well as other major topics impacting the municipal market, in the weekly publication, “MMA Municipal Outlook,” which reports on credit events, headlines, assessments of liquidity risk, opportunities on the yield curve, public and tax policy, as well as other market issues.
The publication is one of the resources offered by MMA, a firm that provides strategic market and credit analysis and commentary on current, historical, and quantitative conditions of the U.S. municipal sector, according to its website.
Hamel’s newly-created role will allow him to share his unique insights and market perspective on policy, infrastructure, and other important topics on the firm’s independent platform, according to founder and president Tom Doe.
Hamel “can write freely and express views freely in a way that he wouldn’t have as an active industry participant,” Doe said in an interview Tuesday, Hamel's official first day in the New York office.
“To have somebody who has been a practitioner at the very highest levels is very valuable for a firm like ours that operates independently and doesn’t have that transactional experience,” Doe said. Hamel’s commentary will help the firm “anchor its research and analysis in the reality of the industry,” he said.
After a little less than a year traveling Europe, taking Spanish lessons, improving his golf swing, and getting more physically fit, Hamel said he wasted no time returning to his “first love” of public policy when the opportunity presented itself.
“MMA is really a high-quality research and policy shop grounded in the clients’ needs,” he told The Bond Buyer. “At the end of the day, managing a department is about a lot of other things than advancing infrastructure policy.”
His debut column in the Jan. 22 "Outlook" piece discussed the current model of U.S. infrastructure and how that will need to evolve in order to address underfunding, among other infrastructure finance topics.
"Unfortunately, the sorry state of U.S. infrastructure remains a challenge despite being widely discussed through the years with the hope of meaningful Federal assistance fading," Hamel wrote in his debut piece.
Doe praised Hamel’s experience and tenure in the industry.
“His insights display his combination of distinguished practical public finance experience with his vision toward a sustainable approach to the country’s future,” the MMA president wrote.
“He thinks forward in the industry and this was an appropriate way to designate his focus,” Doe said in an interview after the publication’s release.
“He is well regarded and knows his way around D.C.,” Doe said. “We are thrilled to have him for his experience, especially during this interesting juncture in U.S. public finance and the challenges going forward.”
Hamel will also share his contributions on the market at industry events and during the firm’s interaction with trade associations, industry leaders, think tanks, and elected officials, according to Doe.
Formerly at RBC, Hamel headed one of the largest municipal finance groups in the country, with operations based in New York and bankers in 28 cities across the U.S. Under his leadership, the firm expanded its municipal finance platform in revenue, ranking, and reputation and evolved into a consistent top-five market leader.
During his career, Chris has been actively involved in the municipal finance community as a former member of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA), and has previously served as chair of SIFMA’s Infrastructure Finance Policy Committee, as well as its Municipal Executive Committee, and is on its honor roll of municipal leaders.
