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The incoming Bond Buyer Hall of Famer combined legal training, investment banking and financial advisory experience to solve complex financings — and used that range to help develop the industry's next generation.

The incoming Bond Buyer Hall of Famer built public finance businesses at U.S. Bank and Academy Securities by combining experienced teams, issuer trust and a clear reason for clients to choose a new franchise.

The incoming Bond Buyer Hall of Famer helped build Citi into a dominant municipal underwriting franchise by making complex finance understandable, actionable and useful to issuers.

Heavy August issuance created fewer oversubscriptions and more demand for concessions, a signal that issuers, advisors and underwriters need to pay closer attention to structure, timing and clearing levels, according to Market Intelligence analyst Jeff Lipton.

The incoming Bond Buyer Hall of Famer has paired creative banking with relentless execution and client focus across four decades — from pioneering a new muni sector to transforming Jefferies into a market leader.

For the 25th year, The Bond Buyer editorial board will identify and recognize the year's most outstanding municipal finance transactions. The deadline for nominations is Friday, October 2.

The incoming Bond Buyer Hall of Famer says titles and board seats are "empty calories" unless they improve the municipal market, a philosophy that has shaped his work in regulation, banking, and mentorship.

Funded ratios remain useful, but they can mask risky assumptions, illiquid investments and correlated exposures that may force higher government pension contributions during the next downturn, writes Market Intelligence analyst Jeff Lipton.

Financing for a nearly $500 million long-term investment plan would include as much as $250 million of revenue bonds that could be sold next year.

Municipal bond volume currently stands at $372.991 billion in 2026, up only 0.8% from $370.022 billion at the same time last year.

Belmont University is among investment grade, well-known institutions dealing with more financial pressure due to a shrinking pool of undergraduates.

The professionals are expected to strengthen Raymond James' abilities in land-secured public finance.

Cloud tech and AI are two of the most important and impactful technologies for the development and operation of many analytical and optimization tools for the municipal market, company representatives say. 

Student housing bonds trade wide for a reason: declining college-age populations, private competition and non-recourse structures make demand, disclosure, university commitment and stress-testing the signals investors need to validate, writes Market Intelligence analyst Jeff Lipton.

The industry-shaping inductees helped shape the laws, practices, institutions and analytical approaches that underpin municipal finance, while building legacies that extend beyond individual deals and organizations.

Introducing The Bond Buyer's newest class of Rising Stars, who will be honored at an awards dinner in Chicago on Sept. 14-15, 2026.

Market Intelligence analyst Jeff Lipton says muni investors should treat July as a reset, not a retreat, with positive flows, compelling taxable-equivalent yields and selective repricing supporting modest single-digit returns by yearend.

Market Intelligence analyst Jeff Lipton says overreliance on financial ratios can obscure forward-looking credit risks, making qualitative factors such as political willingness, management strategy, cyber-threat preparedness, legal security and economic and policy change essential to muni decision-making.

With longer-term municipal bond yields falling, there's less of an incentive to issue tender option bonds, analysts said, but a market remains. 

The deal funds the municipalization of a private water utility that had been controlled by investor-owned utility Eversource.