Decision Making in a Data Driven Municipal Marketplace

Joe Mysak has been covering the municipal market since January of 1981, when he was hired at The Daily Bond Buyer. He served as copy editor, reporter, assistant managing editor, managing editor, editor, and editor and publisher. In 1994 he joined the Interest Rate Publishing Co. to put out the fortnightly Grant’s Municipal Bond Observer. In 1999, he joined Bloomberg News. He is currently the editor of the daily Bloomberg Brief, “Municipal Market.” He is the author of, among other titles, the “Handbook for Muni-Bond Issuers” (1998) and “The Encyclopedia of Municipal Bonds” (2012). He has been an annual speaker at the Bond Attorneys Winter Workshop since 1994.

Deborah Trachtenberg is a Vice President of Eaton Vance Management and Director of Municipal Trading. She is responsible for trading the National Market and for the specific states of New York and New Jersey. She is also responsible for the overall operations of the municipal trading function at Eaton Vance. Deborah has been involved in the Municipal market for over 35 years. Prior to joining Eaton Vance, she served in the capacity of senior municipal trader at Chemical Bank (1983-1993), at Donaldson, Lufkin and Jenrette (1993-1995), and at Fidelity Investments (1995-1997). Deborah joined Eaton Vance in 1997, at which time she established the municipal trading function for the firm. She is also a board member of The Matthew Larson Foundation for Pediatric Brain Tumors.

Robert DiMella is an Executive Managing Director and Co-Head of Municipal Managers, which he manages jointly with John Loffredo. Together they oversee all aspects of the group’s business, including oversight of portfolio management and research, as well as client relationships and product development. He is a member of the firm’s Senior Leadership Team. Robert has been a municipal portfolio manager and/or municipal analyst since 1993, with a broad range of experience in portfolio management and research in the municipal markets. He joined MacKay Shields in July 2009 when the firm acquired the assets of Mariner Municipal Managers LLC, where he served as President and co-founder from 2007 to 2009. From 2006 to 2007, he was a Managing Director and Co-Head of BlackRock’s Municipal Portfolio Management Group. Prior to BlackRock’s merger with Merrill Lynch Investment Managers, he served as a Senior Portfolio Manager and Managing Director of Merrill Lynch’s Municipal Products Group, where he worked from 1993 to 2006.

Peter DeGroot is a Managing Director and heads the Investment Bank’s Municipal Research and Strategy efforts. J.P. Morgan’s Municipal Research and Strategy Group publishes daily and weekly market analytics and commentary for issuer and investor clients. The team also advises the firm’s investor clients on risk and performance management in tax-exempt and taxable municipal bond portfolios. Peter joined J.P. Morgan in June of 2011 from Barclays Capital where he was a Managing Director and head of the municipal strategies team. Mr. DeGroot regularly speaks at industry events and is often cited in the financial press. Peter has been voted among the top ranked municipal bond strategists for over 15-years and as the top ranked strategist for more than ten years, based on the annual survey by Institutional Investor. Mr. DeGroot began his career in 1984 in the Investment Banking Division at Manufacturers Hanover Trust, in New York. He holds degrees from Saint Francis College in Computer Science and Business Management.

Mr. McGarry’s current position is Institutional Trading Manager. Mr. McGarry has been in the trading municipal bonds for 28 years. He has been a retail and institutional trader for Tucker Anthony/RBC from 1990 to 2003 specializing in structure bonds and special revenue bonds. From 2003 to 2011 he traded for First Albany/Depfa/Jefferies. During his time at First Albany he also was the manager of the middle markets desk. He returned to RBC in 2011. Pat started at RBC in 2011 as the institutional yld/special revenue trader. He has since been promoted to Institutional Trading Manager in 2014. He manages a team of nine institutional municipal traders. Mr. McGarry holds a BOA from St. Johns University and Series 7, 53, & 63 licenses.