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About FIASI

The Fixed Income Analysts Society (FIASI), founded in 1975, is a not-for-profit professional society dedicated to the education of its membership and the fixed income community at large. FIASI serves its members by sponsoring programs and workshops covering topics of current interest and presented by distinguished industry leaders. FIASI also sponsors an annual Hall of Fame ceremony to recognize lifetime achievements of outstanding practitioners in the advancement of fixed income security and portfolio analysis.

The Fixed Income Analysts Society is comprised of fixed income professionals who value the opportunity to learn, network and discuss important fixed income topics with colleagues across the industry. We draw from all disciplines – buy side, sell side, intermediaries, quants and academics – and all sectors – credit, rates, economics, securitized products, foreign exchange, emerging markets, municipal finance and commodities. Seasoned professionals as well as those new to the industry will reap the benefits of FIASI membership.

The Fixed Income Analysts Society is managed by a board of directors who are elected by the membership for one-year terms at an annual meeting held in June.

FIASI's Board of Directors includes the President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, and at least four Members-at-Large; one of whom is typically the immediate past President.

Interested members are encouraged to attend board meetings and to assist and advise the Board of Directors. Current committees include Program Membership (assist in the recruitment of new members and the retention of current members), and Hall of Fame (make recommendations to the Board of Directors). If you are interested in serving on any of these committees, please contact the Chairperson. (assist in the development of Program Meetings),

To better serve its members and to make manageable the workload of its volunteer officers, the Society employs a professional management firm.

The Fixed Income Analysts Society is managed by a board of directors who are elected by the membership at an annual meeting held in June. FIASI's Board of Directors includes the President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer and at least four Members-at-Large; one of whom is typically the immediate past President.  Click here to see the board member requirements

Interested members are encouraged to advise the Board of Directors through participation in committees. Current committees include Programming (organizing Speaker Series events including the Hall of Fame), Membership (assist in the recruitment of new members and the retention of current members), Marketing (to assist with publicity and postings on social media), Technology (to assist the board in keeping up with technology), and Governance/Nominating (to help vet prospective board members and stay up to date on legal matters).

 

President

Vice President

Erin Lyons
Global Head of Business Strategy
CreditSights
2 Park Avenue, 24th Floor
New York, NY 10016
Jessica G. Broughton
Director, Financial Institutions Coverage
BNP Paribas
787 Seventh Avenue
New York, NY, 10019

Treasurer

Secretary

Pawel Mosakowski
Managing Principal
Summit Place Advisers LLC

Monica Aggarwal, CFA
Managing Director, U.S. Retail &
Consumer Team Head
Fitch Ratings
33 Whitehall Street
New York, NY 10004

Members-At-Large

Joyce Chang
Chair of Global Research
J.P. Morgan
383 Madison Avenue, 10th Floor
New York, NY 10179

Ralph A. DeCesare, CFA, CAIA
Managing Director & 
Head of Credit Research
TDAM USA Inc.
399 Park Ave.
New York, NY 10022

Program Co-Chair:
Mark Howard, CFA
Senior Multi-Asset Specialist
BNP Paribas Securities
787 Seventh Avenue
New York, NY 10019

Gregg Lemos-Stein, CFA
Managing Director,
Chief Analytical Officer, Corporate Ratings
S&P Global Ratings
55 Water Street
New York, NY 10041


Henry Shilling
Director of Research
Sustainable Research
and Analysis

99 Wall Street, Suite 2242
New York, NY 10005


Marketing Co-Chair:
Robert Slowko, CAIA
ESG & Climate Director
GRESB

Diane Vazza
Boards of Directors
Private Equity and FinTech

Mariarosa Verde
Senior Vice President,  
Credit Strategy and Standards
Moody's Investors Service
7 World Trade Center
250 Greenwich Street
New York, NY 10007

 

 

 

 

 

FIASI's success is attributable to the dedication and work of its committees, in conjunction with FIASI's Board of Directors and staff. Interested members are encouraged to assist and advise the Board of Directors.

Current committees now in place to facilitate successful implementation of FIASI's stated goals for its membership include Programming/Event, Membership, Marketing, Hall of Fame, Nominating & Governance Committee.. If you are interested in serving on one of the committees accepting members or have any suggestions, please contact .

 

Programming/Events Committee

Mark Howard, Chair | To volunteer email:

The Programming Committee oversees all aspects of the Society's series of programs, including selecting topics and identifying appropriate speakers. The intention is to vary the programs so that there will be some programs of interest to each of the Society's various professional sectors. We are always looking for great ideas. Event planning skills desirable but not essential.

 

Membership Committee

Erin Lyons, Chair | To volunteer email: 

The Membership Committee assists in the recruitment of new members and the retention of existing members. To accomplish these goals the committee works to build awareness of FIASI across the industry and is undertaking a series of initiatives to improve the value of the organization to its current base. Neworking also falls under the perview of the Membership Committee.

 

Marketing Committee

Robert Slowko, Chair | To volunteer email: 

Is a new committee having been launched after our 2020/2021 Strategic plan was completed.  This committee has been broken into 2 groups, Brand and Event marketing.  In addition to promotion and development of event marketing the larger group is working on enlarging the presence of FIASI on the web and our unique programs offered.  

 

Hall of Fame Committee

Mark Howard, Chair

The Hall of Fame committee helps the Board of Directors identify potential candidates for inclusion in the annual Hall of Fame. Nominees will have made major contributions to the advancement of fixed-income analysis and portfolio management. These contributions may be academic, business-related, or FIASI-related. By majority vote, the Board will determine the annual inductees.  This committee is manned by board members and past Hall of Famers. Once the Hall of Fame inductees are announced we look for volunteers to work with this committee to help with creating a cohesive event.

 

Nominating and Governance Committee

Monica Aggarwal, Chair 

Governance Committee oversees the strategic direction of the FIASI organization which includes operations of Committees, adherence to by laws and interviewing potential board members and sponsors.

Additional committees being considered at this time are Finance & Auditing, Technology, and Internship committees.  More information will be publisized as we work for developing these voluntary committees.

 

ARTICLE I. PURPOSE OF CORPORATION

The purpose of the Corporation shall be as set forth in the Certificate of Incorporation and any amendments thereto.


ARTICLE II. MEMBERS

Section 1. Membership

Any person regularly engaged as a fixed income professional shall be eligible for membership in the Corporation.

Any eligible person who wishes to become a member of the Corporation must first:

  • Complete the Corporation's membership application form and send it to the Chairperson of the Corporation's Membership Committee, and
  • Be elected by a majority of the Board of Directors present at a meeting of the Board, if a quorum is present at such meeting.

No person shall be deemed a member of the Corporation unless he/she shall have been given notification from the Board of such election.

The Board of Directors of the Corporation may establish such other criteria for membership, including, but not limited to, standards relating to professional activities and ethical conduct and, a schedule of dues and initiation fees, as it deems appropriate.

Section 1.A. Regular Membership

This category of membership is open to all candidates who are regularly engaged as a fixed income professional. The Board of Directors shall fix the dues, as it deems appropriate.

Section 1.B. Associate Membership

This category of membership is open to all candidates under the age of 25 and are regularly engaged as a fixed income professional or be a retired member of the fixed income industry. The Board of Directors shall fix the dues, as it deems appropriate.

Section 1.C. Academic Membership

The Academic Member category has been established for faculty members of graduate and undergraduate programs at recognized universities and schools. The Board of Directors shall fix the dues, as it deems appropriate.

Section 1.D. Student Membership

The Student Membership category has been established for individuals currently enrolled full-time in business school programs. The Board of Directors shall fix the dues, as it deems appropriate. Annual dues include[s] complimentary meeting attendance.

Section 2. Maintenance of Membership

To retain membership in the Corporation, each new member elected after the date of the adoption of these By-laws must continue to meet the eligibility requirements contained in the first paragraph of Section One of these By-laws and all members of the Corporation, regardless of the date such persons first became members, must comply with such other criteria for membership, including, but not limited to, standards relating to professional activities and ethical conduct, and the payment of dues, as the Board of Directors may establish in order to retain their membership in the Corporation. The Board of Directors may vote to expel any member who fails to satisfy the requirements contained in Sections 1 and 2 of these By-laws or who shall violate any other criteria for membership as the Board of Directors may establish.

Section 3. Meetings

The Annual Meeting of members shall be held each year at the place, time and date by the end of June as may be fixed by the Board of Directors, or if not so fixed, as may be determined by the President of the Board. Special meetings of the members may be called by the Board of Directors or upon the request of ten members of the Corporation.

Section 4. Notice of Meetings

Notice of the place, date and hour of any meeting shall be given by e-mail or mail to each member entitled to vote at such meeting. Notice shall be given not less than ten days before the meeting, on a best efforts basis or as soon as practicable thereafter. Notice of a special meeting shall also state the purpose or purposes for which the meeting is called. Proxies shall be sent with each notice of a meeting where a vote will be taken on any matter entitling the member to authorize another person or persons to act for him or her.

Section 5. Quorum of Members

At all meetings of members, one hundred members entitled to cast votes or one-twentieth of the total number of votes entitled to be cast, whichever is lesser, shall be a quorum for the transaction of business. The members present at a meeting may adjourn the meeting despite the absence of a quorum.

Section 6. Voting

At any meeting of the members, each member present in person or by proxy shall be entitled to one vote.

Section 7. Record Date

For the purpose of determining the members entitled to vote at any meeting of members, or for the purpose of any other action by the members, the Board of Directors may fix, in advance, a date as the record date for any such determination of members. Such record date shall not be more than fifty nor less than ten days before the date of such meeting.

Section 8. Action by Members

Except as otherwise provided by law or by these By-laws, the vote of a majority of members entitled to vote, if a quorum is present at such time, shall be the act of the members.


ARTICLE III. BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Section 1. Powers and Number

The Corporation shall be managed by its Board of Directors. The number of directors constituting the entire Board shall be no less than seven (7) nor more than fifteen (15). The Board of Directors shall have the power to increase or decrease their own number within the limits above specified by a resolution adopted by a majority of the entire Board. Directors must be members of the corporation. All Directors are responsible for solicitation of sponsors for the annual Hall of Fame Gala.

Section 2. Election and Term of Office

Directors shall be elected at the Annual Meeting of the members by vote of a majority of the membership present in person or by proxy. Directors shall be elected to hold office for a term of two (2) years, renewable indefinitely. Each director shall hold office until the expiration of the term for which he or she is elected and until the election of a successor or until his or her earlier death, resignation or removal.

Upon election to the Board, new Directors will be provided a summary of duties and responsibilities as a Board member.

Section 3. Vacancies

Whenever any vacancy occurs in the Board of Directors by death, resignation, or otherwise, it shall be filled without undue delay by a majority vote by ballot of the remaining members of the Board at a special meeting which shall be called for that purpose. The election shall be held within thirty (30) days after the occurrence of the vacancy. The person so chosen shall hold office until the next Annual Meeting of members.

Section 4. Meetings

Meetings of the Board of Directors may be held at any place within or without New York State. Regular meetings of the Board of Directors shall be held immediately following the Annual Meeting of members in June and at other times throughout the year as determined by the President. The President may, when he/she deems necessary, or the Secretary shall, at the request of three members of the Board, call for a special meeting of the Board.

Section 5. Quorum

A majority of the Board of Directors shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. If a quorum is not present, a lesser number may adjourn the meeting to a later day. Notice of any adjournment of a meeting of the Board to another place or time shall be given to the directors who were not present at the time of the adjournment and unless such time and place are announced at the meeting, to the other members of the Board of Directors. No Director may vote by proxy at a meeting of the Board

Section 6. Electronic Transmission of Notices and Actions

All notices, waivers, consents, votes, resignations, and actions of any kind as may be required by these bylaws may be submitted either by traditional written means, or by email, facsimile, or similar electronic methods where there is reasonable certainty that such electronic means are a valid representation of the originating party’s wishes.

Section 7. Action by the Board; Unanimous Consent

Except as otherwise provided in these By-laws or by law, the vote of a majority of the directors present at the time of the vote, if a quorum is present at such time, shall constitute the act of the Board. Any action required or permitted to be taken by the Board or any committee thereof may be taken without a meeting if all members of the Board or the committee consent to the adoption of a resolution authorizing the action. The resolution and the consents thereto by the members of the Board or committee shall be filed with the minutes of the proceedings of the Board or committee. Any one or more members of the Board or any committee thereof may participate in a meeting of the Board or committee by means of a conference telephone or similar communications equipment allowing all persons participating in the meeting to hear each other at the same time. Participation by such means shall constitute presence in person at a meeting.

Section 8. Notice of Meetings

Notice of the time and place of each regular or special meeting of the Board, together with an agenda stating all matters upon which action is proposed to be taken and, to the extent possible, copies of all documents on which action is proposed to be taken, shall be e-mailed to each director, at the email provided, two days before the day on which the meeting is to be held. Notice of special meetings to discuss matters requiring prompt action may be sent to him or her at such address by e-mail or given personally or by telephone, no less than twenty-¬four hours before the time at which such meeting is to be held. Notice of a meeting need not be given to any director who submits a signed waiver of notice whether before or after the meeting, or who attends the meeting without protesting, prior thereto or at its commencement, the lack of notice to him or her. Such deadlines will be met on a best efforts basis or as soon as practicable thereafter.

Section 9. Absence

Any Director absent from three consecutive Board meetings shall, unless excused by the Board, be deemed to have resigned as a Director as of the adjournment of the meeting constituting the fourth consecutive absence. Directors in attendance should be given notice if Directors have had two consecutive absences.

Section 10. Removal of Directors

Any one or more of the Directors may be removed either with or without cause, at any time, by a vote of two thirds of the board of directors members present at any special meeting called for that purpose as long as a quorum of members is present at such meeting. Any director may be removed for cause by a majority vote of the entire Board, at any special meeting of the Board called for that purpose. All Directors must be given notice of such special meetings at least 48 hours in advance.

Section 11. Addition of Directors

From time to time it may be appropriate to consider the addition of a Director to the Board of Directors in advance of the Annual Meeting of the members in June. The President shall have the power to recommend the addition of a Director in advance of the Annual Meeting. The recommendation shall be subject to a vote by a majority of the entire Board of Directors at the next regularly scheduled meeting of the Board.


ARTICLE IV. OFFICERS

Section 1. Number

The officers of the Corporation shall be a President, Vice¬ President, Secretary, Treasurer, and Membership Chairperson. One person may hold more than one office in the Corporation except that no one person may hold the offices of President and Secretary. No instrument required to be signed by more than one officer may be signed by one person in more than one capacity. Officers must be members of the Corporation, but need not be directors of the Corporation.

Section 2. Election and Term of Office

The officers of the Corporation shall be elected at the Annual Meeting of members by vote of a majority of the membership present in person or by proxy. Each officer may hold office for two consecutive (2) year[s] terms and until the election of a successor or until his or her earlier death, resignation or removal. An officer is eligible for re-election one year after the expiration of a second, consecutive, 2-year term.

Section 3. Employees and Other Agents

The Board of Directors may appoint from time to time such employees and other agents as it shall deem necessary, each of whom shall serve at the pleasure of the Board, and shall have such authority and perform such duties and shall receive such reasonable compensation, as the Board of Directors may from time to time determine.

Section 4. Removal

Any employee or agent of the Corporation may be removed with or without cause by a vote of a majority of the entire Board of Directors.

Section 5. Vacancies

In case of any vacancy in any office, a successor to fill the unexpired portion of the term may be elected by a vote of the majority of the entire Board of Directors.

Section 6. Powers and Duties

Section 6.A. President

The President shall preside at all meetings of the members and of the Board of Directors, shall have general supervision of the affairs of the Corporation, and shall keep the Board of Directors fully informed about the activities of the Corporation. He or she has the power to sign alone, unless the Board of Directors shall specifically require an additional signature, in the name of the Corporation, all contracts authorized either generally or specifically by the Board. He or she shall perform such other duties as shall from time to time be assigned by the Board of Directors. In order for the President to be an employee of the Corporation, the board must approve such action by a two-thirds vote of the entire board and produce a contemporaneous document in writing with the basis for board approval.

Section 6.B. Vice-president

The Vice—President shall have such powers and duties as may be assigned to him/her by the Board of Directors. In the absence of the President, the Vice¬ President shall perform the duties of the President. The Vice-President facilitates the nomination of Hall of Fame recipients by overseeing the proposal of candidates, the approval of the board and notification to the final candidates and management of the Hall of Fame Gala.

Section 6.C. Secretary

The Secretary shall be responsible for taking minutes at all meetings of the members and all meetings of the Board of Directors. He/she shall be responsible for the giving of and serving of all notices of the Corporation and shall perform all the duties customarily incident to the office of the Secretary, subject to the direction of the Board of Directors, and shall perform such other duties as shall from time to time be assigned by the Board of Directors. The Secretary shall maintain the Corporation's seal. The Secretary is responsible for ensuring that approved Board minutes are posted on FIASI’s website for at least one year.

Section 6.D. Treasurer

The Treasurer shall keep or cause to be kept full and accurate accounts of receipts and disbursements of the Corporation, and shall deposit or cause to be deposited all moneys and other valuable effects of the Corporation in the name and to the credit of the Corporation in such banks or depositories as the Board of Directors may designate. At the Annual Meeting of the members and at each Board meeting, he or she shall render a statement of the Corporation's accounts. He or she shall at all reasonable times exhibit the Corporation's books and accounts to any officer or director of the Corporation and shall perform all duties incident to the position of Treasurer subject to the control of the Board of Directors, and shall, when required, give such security for the faithful performance of his or her duties as the Board of Directors may determine.


ARTICLE V. COMMITTEES

Section 1. Creation, Types, and Terms

The board of directors may create such committees as it determines to be in the best interest of the corporation. The board of directors shall determine the duties, powers, and composition of such committees, except that the board shall not delegate to such committees those powers which by law may not be delegated. Committees shall be designated either as “committees of the board”, composed exclusively of directors; or as “committees of the corporation”, which may include directors and non-directors, provided however that a majority of each committee of the corporation must be directors and that any committee of the corporation shall not have the power to bind the corporation. All committees shall submit to the board of directors, at such meetings as the board may designate, a report of the actions and recommendations of such committees for consideration and approval by the board of directors. Except for the Nominating Committee whose terms are described in Article V, Section 3, committee members serve without limit of term. Any committee may be terminated at any time by the board of directors.

Section 2. Membership Committee

The Membership Committee, a committee of the board, shall review membership applications received by the Membership Chairperson and make recommendations to the Board of Directors concerning the approval or disapproval of applicants and the retention or expulsion of members of the Corporation, all based on the criteria set forth in these Bylaws and as established by the Board of Directors.

Section 3. Nominating Committee

Section 3.A.

Nominations for members of the Board of Directors shall be made by a Nominating Committee, a committee of the board, to be composed of five people. The President of the Board shall be an ex officio member of the Nominating Committee and he or she shall nominate the other four (4) members of the committee, all of whom must be members of the Corporation. Members of the Nominating Committee shall hold such position for two years and until the appointment of a successor or until his or her earlier death, resignation or removal.

Section 3.B.

The Board of Directors will approve the Nominating Committee composition at its December meeting. Directors shall notify the Board of their intention to step down from consideration.

Section 3.C.

Any member entitled to vote shall have the right to suggest for consideration by the Nominating Committee candidates for nomination to the Board of Directors and for any office thereof. The names and biographical information on any proposed nominee must be provided to the Nominating Committee no later than four months prior to the Annual Meeting of the members.

Section 3.D.

At least eight weeks prior to the Annual Meeting of the members, the Nominating Committee shall present to the Board of Directors its slate of candidates for election to the Board of Directors and a proposal for each officer position. The slate may include more than the number of available positions on the Board. The Board should discuss the support of the slate provided to the Nominating Committee.

Section 3.E.

No person may be a candidate for more than one position or office on the Board in any election. In those instances where the same candidate is selected by the Nominating Committee and the petition signed by ten members of the Corporation, as provided for in subdivision (c) of this section, the Nominating Committee shall have the sole discretion to determine which position or office on the Board for which the candidate shall run.

Section 3.F.

Notwithstanding any provision in these By-laws, no person shall be eligible to be a candidate for the Corporation's Board of Directors or any office thereof unless such candidate has been an active member of the Corporation for at least six months.

Section 3.G.

A listing of the candidates, along with a ballot and proxy, shall be sent to the members of the Corporation with the Notice of the Annual Meeting of the members.

Section 3.H.

Such deadlines will be met on a best efforts basis or as soon as practicable thereafter.


ARTICLE VI. CONTRACTS, CHECKS, BANK ACCOUNTS & INVESTMENTS

Section 1. Checks and Contracts

The Board of Directors is authorized to select such depositories as it shall deem proper for the funds of the Corporation and shall determine who shall be authorized in the Corporation's behalf to sign bills, notes, receipts, acceptances, endorsements, checks, releases, contracts and documents.

Section 2. Investments

The funds of the Corporation may be retained in whole or in part in cash or be invested and reinvested from time to time in investment vehicles such as (but not limited to) savings accounts or CDs, stocks, bonds or mutual funds, as the Board of Directors may deem desirable and consistent with prudent investment practices.


ARTICLE VII. OFFICE AND BOOKS

Section 1. Office

The office of the Corporation shall be located at such place as the Board of Directors may from time to time determine.

Section 2. Books

There shall be kept at the office of the Corporation correct books of account of the activities and transactions of the Corporation including a minute book, which shall contain a copy of the Certificate of Incorporation, a copy of these By-laws, and all minutes of meetings of the members and of the Board of Directors.


ARTICLE VIII. FISCAL YEAR

The fiscal year of the Corporation shall be determined by the Board of Directors.


ARTICLE IX. INDEMNIFICATION

The corporation shall, to the extent legally permissible, indemnify each person who may serve or who has served at any time as an officer or director of the corporation against all expenses and liabilities, including, without limitation, counsel fees, judgments, fines, excise taxes, penalties, and settlement payments, reasonably incurred by or imposed upon such person in connection with any threatened, pending, or completed action, suit, or proceeding in which he or she may become involved by reason of his or her service in such capacity; provided that no indemnification shall be provided for any such person with respect to any matter as to which he or she shall have been finally adjudicated in any proceeding not to have acted in good faith in the reasonable belief that such action was in the best interests of the corporation; and further provided that any compromise or settlement payment shall be approved by a majority vote of a quorum of directors who are not at that time parties to the proceeding.

The indemnification provided hereunder shall inure to the benefit of the heirs, executors, and administrators of persons entitled to indemnification hereunder. The right of indemnification under this Article shall be in addition to and not exclusive of all other rights to which any person may be entitled. This Article constitutes a contract between the corporation and the indemnified officers and directors. No amendment or repeal of the provisions of this Article which adversely affects the right of an indemnified officer or director under this Article shall apply to such officer or director with respect to those acts or omissions which occurred at any time prior to such amendment or repeal.


ARTICLE X. SEAL

A seal of the Corporation may be adopted by the Board of Directors containing the name of the Corporation, its year of incorporation and the state wherein it is incorporated.


ARTICLE XI. AMENDMENTS

These By-laws may be amended by the affirmative vote of a majority of the directors in office at any meeting of the Board or by a vote of two-¬thirds of the members of the Corporation present at a meeting duly called for the purpose of amending these By-laws, as long as a quorum is present at such meetings, providing notice of the proposed amendments has been included in the notice of meeting. Within thirty days after a Bylaw amendment is adopted by the Board, notice of such amendment shall be given to each member of the Corporation.

Below find a list of all past presidents of FIASI.

YearsNameEmail

2021-2023

Monica Aggarwal

2021-2019

Larry White

2017-2019

Robert Slowko

2015-2017

Henry Shilling

2014-2015

Mark Howard, CFA

2012-2014

Ralph DeCesare, CFA, CAIA

2011-2012

Mark Howard, CFA

2009-2011

David W. Munves, CFA

2008-2009

Alex Golbin, CFA

2007-2008

Mariarosa Verde

2006-2007

John D. Finnerty, PhD.

2005-2006

Steven D. Berkley

2004-2005

Diane Vazza

2003-2004

Sean C. Keenan, PhD.

2002-2003

John H. Dolan

2001-2002

Nancy Stroker, CFA

1999-2001

Joseph B. Sindelar, Jr., CFA

1998-1999

Lawrence W.D. Taylor, CFA

1997-1998

Margaret M. Cannella

Deceased

1996-1997

Jack Malvey, CFA

1995-1996

Mark R. Girolamo

1994-1995

Mary Anne Sudol

1993-1994

Clifford M. Griep

1992-1993

Caroline J. Smith


1991-1992

John D. Finnerty, PhD.

1990-1991

Loretta J. Neuhaus

1989-1990

Roy Weinberger, CFA

1988-1989

Andrew J. Kalotay

1987-1988

Robert Levine, CFA

1986-1987

Penelope O. Adelmann

Deceased

1984-1986

Martin S. Fridson, CFA

1983-1984

Robert Angevine

1982-1983

Michael K. Dahood, CFA

1981-1982

Alfred G. Mazzorana

1980-1981

Betty Buckley

send email to

1979-1980

B. Daniel Evans, Jr.

 

1978-1979

H. Russell Fraser

Deceased

1977-1978

Richard S. Wilson

1976-1977

H. Russell Fraser

Deceased



 

BIOGRAPHIES
President:
MARK HOWARD, CFA is the Head of US Credit Strategy at BNP Paribas. He directs a team that provides strategic and portfolio advice related to the US Investment Grade, High Yield and Structured Credit markets. Previously, Mark spent 5 years at Barclays Capital, where he was a Managing Director and held the roles of Co-Head of Global Research and Head of Credit Analysis.  At Barclays, he was active in a range of firm-wide initiatives as a member of the firm's Management, Recruitment and Diversity committees.  Prior to joining Barclays in April 2004, Mr. Howard was at Lehman Brothers for 18 years, where he was a Managing Director and Global Credit Strategist.  In that capacity, he was responsible for the firm’s high grade, high yield, emerging market and credit derivative strategy teams.  As an active researcher, Mr. Howard has been recognised as a fixed income ‘All American’ by Institutional Investor magazine 11 times, including first place rankings in 7 of those years.  Mr. Howard received his MBA in Finance from New York University and his bachelor’s degree in Economics from Colby College.  He is an Overseer of the Board of Trustees of Colby College and serves on the Board as well as the Finance and Investment Committees of Village Community School in New York City.

Vice President:
ADAM B. COHEN, Esq., Founder and Managing Member, Covenant Review, graduated from the University of Florida in 1993 and from Georgetown University Law School cum laude in 1997, having been elected to the Georgetown Law Journal. Prior to founding Covenant Review, he was a corporate finance attorney with Latham & Watkins and an investment banker with Lehman Brothers. Adam founded Covenant Review in 2005 as the world's first boutique research firm focused on corporate bond covenants in order to provide institutional investors with perspectives on their rights as bondholders as seen through the eyes of experienced practicing lawyers. He was one of seven contributors to the American Bar Association's Model Negotiated Covenants Project and is on the Credit Roundtable where he was instrumental in the development of the "White Paper" for model covenants for the investment grade universe. He also co-authored two chapters in Frank Fabozzi’s Handbook of Fixed Income Securities, Eighth Edition. He is widely considered to be the leading commentator on corporate bond covenants.

Secretary:
HENRY SHILLING is a Senior Vice President with Moody’s Analytics.   Working at Moody’s since 1992, Henry recently joined the Social Performance Group (SPG) with a broad mandate to explore the sustainable and responsible investing (SRI) field.  Previously he focused on research, analysis and ratings of money market and bond mutual funds, various other pooled investment vehicles, pension funds, debt like instruments issued by closed-end funds as well as asset (fund) management companies.  Earlier in his career he was a vice president with a firm specializing in tracking and evaluating the performance of mutual funds and an officer in the employee-benefit trust and asset management divisions of several large banks.  Henry is the author of The International Guide to Securities Market Indices which was published in 1996 by International Publishing Corp., Chicago, Illinois.  Also, he is a recent contributor to Money Market Funds in the EU and the US, published in 2014 by Oxford University Press.  Henry earned a B.A. in economics from Lehman College, City University of New York in 1971. 

Treasurer:
MELODY VOGELMANN, CFA is currently a credit research consultant. She also spent 9 months working for FIASI on a range of strategic projects before joining the Board in 2011.  Prior to her work at FIASI she spent nearly a decade as a sell side researcher.  Most recently, she was at Barclays Capital, where she worked as an investment grade credit strategist.  She began her career as a fundamental corporate bond analyst, spending 5 years at Lehman Brothers.  Melody received an MBA in Finance and Accounting from the Stern School of Business at NYU and an S.B. in Economics from M.I.T.  Outside of work she is active in several family-focused community organizations.

Members-at-Large:
CHRISTOPHER BUCK is a Director and head of Latin America Corporate Credit Research at Finisterre Capital. He is the senior analyst covering the Media and Telecom, Oil and Gas, and Industrial sectors throughout Latin America. Christopher joined Barclays in 2007, prior to which he was a research analyst at the RAND Corporation. In 2011 and 2012, Mr. Buck and his team were ranked by Institutional Investor Magazine’s All-America Fixed Income and Latin America Research Team surveys.  Mr. Buck has an M.B.A. in Finance and Accounting from New York University’s Stern School of Business and a B.A. in International Studies from Colby College.

RALPH DECESARE, CFA, CAIA is Vice-President and Director and head of research for TD Asset Management USA, headquartered in New York. As part of the Toronto-based TD Bank Financial Group, one of the largest banks in North America, TDAM manages over US$250 billion in assets under management on behalf of pension, insurance, endowment/foundation and corporate clients, as well as for high-net worth individuals and retail mutual funds. Prior to joining TDAM, Ralph was a director of fixed income research at Merrill Lynch Investment Managers from 1990 to 2006. Responsibilities included leading a team of fixed income analysts that helped manage over $150 billion in fixed income assets including mutual funds, money market and institutional accounts. Ralph also has had two separate terms at Standard & Poor’s Corp. as a debt ratings analyst, covering multiple industries including electric utilities, natural gas and financial institutions. Ralph earned an MBA in finance from Fordham University, and a B.S. in finance from the University of Arizona. Ralph is the immediate Past President of the Fixed Income Analyst Society, Inc., a 250+ member non-profit professional organization that furthers the education and careers of its members, and is the sponsor of the FIASI Hall of Fame. Ralph is a member of the New York Society of Security Analysts. He is a CFA charterholder and Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst. He serves on the Board of Gibney Dance, a non-profit in New York City.

MARTHA DUMONT, Founding Employee, Managing Director and Global Head of Research, CreditSights, oversees global research and sales for CreditSights.  Martha joined CreditSights full time in the fall of 2009 to lead the firm's strategic planning and new product development as well as oversee the Quantitative Research effort before assuming the role of Head of Global Research in 2010. As Head of Global Research, Martha is also a member of the Executive Committee. Martha was an anchor investor in CreditSights and has been a member of the Board of Directors since December 2000. Prior to joining CreditSights, Martha was a private investor, based in Maine, where she served on the Boards and Investment Committees of several charitable organizations. Martha brings an extensive research background to CreditSights having been Director of Global Fixed Income Research at Lehman Brothers where she oversaw all research and index products until 1994. While there Martha was responsible for building the Fixed Income team that captured the number one position in the Institutional Investor rankings when the poll was established. Martha graduated from Mount Holyoke College with an AB in Mathematics and Economics in 1979.

MARK HOCHBERG is a Director in BlackRock's Investment Servicesdepartment and has worked at BlackRock, Inc. in a variety of management, information technology and project management roles.  Prior to joining BlackRock, Mark managed application development and system engineering teams at Credit Suisse First Boston.  Mark received an S.B. in Computer Science and Engineering from M.I.T.  Outside of work, Mark contributes time and effort to a number of organizations, primarily those focusing on the promotion of the sciences and performing arts, the ongoing health and prosperity of New York and Finance.

DAVID W. MUNVES, CFA is a Divisional Managing Director in Moody’s Analytics, and is in charge of the Capital Markets Research Group. The group manages and researches applications of the firm’s suite of markets-based signals, principally EDFTM (Expected Default Frequency) metrics for public firms and the Market Implied Ratings service, as well as the Capital Markets Economics group. David joined Moody’s in December 2004. Prior to joining Moody’s David worked for nine years in Lehman Brothers’ Fixed Income Research Group in London. At Lehman he headed the European Credit Strategy Group for seven years before taking responsibility for the European Fixed Income Index Group. He began his sell side career at Kidder Peabody and PaineWebber. David also worked for 10 years at Standard & Poor’s Ratings Group, where he held a variety of analytical and managerial positions in New York, Stockholm, and London. Prior to joining S&P David was a lending officer with Swiss Bank Corporation in New York. A Chartered Financial Analyst, David holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Kenyon College and a Master’s Degree in International and Public Affairs from Columbia University.  He was president of FIASI from 2009 to 2011.

ROBERT SLOWKO is a Business Development Manager at GMI Ratings, responsible for the strategy, marketing and sales of the entire suite of company’s products. Robert Joined GMI in January 2014 to spearhead company’s rapid growth. Prior to joining GMI Robert worked as a Business Development Manager for the Hedge Funds group of Thomson Reuters and was involved in multiple projects including launching an Emerging Markets group or developing company’s North American Hedge Funds product, marketing and sales strategy. He held a number of positions in the financial industry including emerging markets research and trading at Galleon International, senior roles for global funds custody at RBC Dexia Investor Services, foreign exchange trading or economic research. Robert has been actively involved in FIASI since 2010. He participated in and was responsible for a number of projects critical to the organization. Robert holds a Master’s of Arts degree in Economics from Cracow University of Economics and a Master’s of Business Administration in Finance from Fordham University.

DIANE VAZZA is the Head of Global Fixed Income Research at Standard & Poor’s.  Her analyses, forecasts and research on global credit markets have earned her an international audience and she is widely quoted in the financial media, including the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, New York Times, CNBC, Bloomberg and Thomson Reuters.

Diane has more than 30 years experience working in the capital markets, including rating agency, regulatory, trading, credit and banking experience at Drexel Burnham Lambert, Citibank and Chase Manhattan Bank. In 2006, Credit Magazine named Diane one of the top 50 women across the globe in credit and fixed income. She has traveled to over 100 countries. Diane holds dual BA degrees in Classics (Latin and Ancient Greek) and French from Holy Cross College. She is past President (2004-2005) of the Fixed Income Analysts Society.

MARIAROSA VERDE is a Managing Director and Head of Credit Market Research at Fitch Ratings.  Her responsibilities include examining rating and credit quality trends, conducting default and recovery studies, and commenting on developments in the capital markets.  Mariarosa has published articles on default risk and other credit topics in professional magazines and books.  Credit Market Research data and analysis is often cited in national and trade publications.  Prior to joining Fitch in 1998, Mariarosa worked as a high yield analyst at the Chase Manhattan Bank.  Mariarosa earned a BS and an MBA, magna cum laude, in finance and economics from New York University’s Stern School of Business.  She is past President (2008-2009) of the Fixed Income Analysts Society.

LARRY WHITEis a Managing Director of DBRS since 2006.  His responsibilities include managing and growing relationships with the investors and other constituents of DBRS, such as issuers and bankers.  He is also responsible for business development related to financial institutions and sovereigns in the U.S. and Europe.  Before joining DBRS, Larry spent more than 8 years at Moody’s Investors Service, where he was responsible for product development related to global financial institutions and Latin America.  In addition, he has held positions at several banks including The Bank of New York and First Horizon.  Larry received his MBA from Columbia University and his BS in Finance/Economics from Christian Brothers University.

BIOGRAPHIES
President:
HENRY SHILLING is a Senior Vice President with Moody’s Investors Service.   Working at Moody’s since 1992, Henry recently assumed a new role with a focus on environmental, social as well as governance risks and their impact on credit ratings, research and analysis. Previously he focused on research, analysis and ratings of money market and bond mutual funds, various other pooled investment vehicles, pension funds, debt like instruments issued by closed-end funds as well as asset (fund) management companies.  Earlier in his career he was a vice president with a firm specializing in tracking and evaluating the performance of mutual funds and an officer in the employee-benefit trust and asset management divisions of several large banks.  Henry is the author of The International Guide to Securities Market Indices which was published in 1996 by International Publishing Corp., Chicago, Illinois.  Also, he is a recent contributor to Money Market Funds in the EU and the US, published in 2014 by Oxford University Press.  Henry earned a B.A. in economics from Lehman College, City University of New York in 1971.   

Vice President:
ADAM B. COHEN, Esq., Founder and Managing Member, Covenant Review, graduated from the University of Florida in 1993 and from Georgetown University Law School cum laude in 1997, having been elected to the Georgetown Law Journal. Adam founded Covenant Review in 2005 as the world's first boutique research firm focused on corporate bond covenants in order to provide institutional investors with perspectives on their rights as bondholders as seen through the eyes of experienced practicing lawyers.  Covenant Review has since grown to own Capital Structure, Europe’s leading publishes of news on the sub-investment grade credit universe.  Adam was one of seven contributors to the American Bar Association's Model Negotiated Covenants Project and is on the Credit Roundtable where he was instrumental in the development of the "White Paper" for model covenants for the investment grade universe. He also co-authored two chapters in Frank Fabozzi’s Handbook of Fixed Income Securities, Eighth Edition. He is widely considered to be the leading commentator on corporate bond covenants. Prior to founding Covenant Review, he was a corporate finance attorney with Latham & Watkins and an investment banker with Lehman Brothers.

Secretary:
LARRY WHITE is a Managing Director of DBRS, a Carlyle and Warburg Pincus company, since 2006.  His responsibilities include managing and growing relationships with investors and other constituents of DBRS, such as issuers and bankers.  He is also responsible for business development related to financial institutions and sovereigns in the U.S. and Europe.  Before joining DBRS, Larry spent more than 8 years at Moody’s Investors Service, where he was responsible for product development related to global financial institutions and Latin America.  In addition, he has held positions at several banks including The Bank of New York and First Horizon.  Larry received his MBA from Columbia University and his BS in Finance/Economics from Christian Brothers University.

Treasurer:
MELODY VOGELMANN, CFA is currently a credit research consultant. She also spent 9 months working for FIASI on a range of strategic projects before joining the Board in 2011.  Prior to her work at FIASI she spent nearly a decade as a sell side researcher.  Most recently, she was at Barclays Capital, where she worked as an investment grade credit strategist.  She began her career as a fundamental corporate bond analyst, spending 5 years at Lehman Brothers.  Melody received an MBA in Finance and Accounting from the Stern School of Business at NYU and an S.B. in Economics from M.I.T.  Outside of work she is active in several family-focused community organizations.

Members-at-Large:
STEVE BERKLEY is a Wall Street professional with over 30 years of experience and joined Bloomberg in 2014 to lead their index effort.  Most of his career was spent at Lehman Brothers where he was the Global Head of the Index Business.  During his 19 years at Lehman, Steve led the effort to grow market share resulting in a franchise that is widely accepted as the global leader in fixed income benchmarks.  Berkley participated in the initial launch of the U.S. Aggregate Index, led the effort to create the Global and Euro-Aggregate Indices, established a program to monetize the index through various licensing agreements, improved production and distribution processes, conducted multiple Index Advisory Councils with key clients on three continents, worked with internal compliance to communicate index developments with the media and marketed various software packages distributed by the index team.

Berkley left Lehman and joined BlackRock in 2005 where he established and headed the Relationship Management function for BlackRock Solutions.  During this time the number of Aladdin clients nearly quadrupled.  Steve was also responsible for the BlackRock Solutions Center and the Investment Accounting business.  He was named COO for the Aladdin business in 2010.

Steve holds a BS in Computer Science and an MBA, both from Hofstra University, where he was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa.  Steve served as the President of FIASI from 2005—2006.

CHRISTOPHER BUCK is Head of Credit Research at Finisterre Capital and is based in the UK. Finisterre seeks global investment opportunities across the credit spectrum from distressed to investment grade. Finisterre is an Emerging Market's focused, absolute return, long/short hedge fund with over 3.5bn in assets under management. Before joining Finisterre in September 2014 Christopher was the Head of Latin America Corporate Credit Research at Barclays from 2012 where he managed a team covering LatAm corporate bonds.  Chris also worked in a variety of roles within Emerging Markets corporate credit research at Barclays from 2006.  He was previously a research assistant at The Rand Corporation from 2003 to 2005. Chris received an MBA from Stern School of Business at New York University in 2007 and graduated with a BA in International Studies from Colby College in 2000.

RALPH DECESARE, CFA, CAIA, is Vice-President and Director and head of research for TD Asset Management USA, headquartered in New York. As part of the Toronto-based TD Bank Financial Group, one of the largest banks in North America, TDAM manages over US$250 billion in assets under management on behalf of pension, insurance, endowment/foundation and corporate clients, as well as for high-net worth individuals and retail mutual funds. Prior to joining TDAM, Ralph was a director of fixed income research at Merrill Lynch Investment Managers from 1990 to 2006. Responsibilities included leading a team of fixed income analysts that helped manage over $150 billion in fixed income assets including mutual funds, money market and institutional accounts. Ralph also has had two separate terms at Standard & Poor’s Corp. as a debt ratings analyst, covering multiple industries including electric utilities, natural gas and financial institutions. Ralph earned an MBA in finance from Fordham University, and a B.S. in finance from the University of Arizona. Ralph served as the President of FIASI from 2012 to 2014.  Ralph is a member of the New York Society of Security Analysts. He is a CFA charterholder and Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst. He serves on the Board of Gibney Dance, a non-profit in New York City.

MARTHA DUMONT has extensive financial services management and leadership experience in both the corporate and not-for-profit arenas. Most recently, she was a founding investor, Board Member and Global Head of Research and Sales at CreditSights, a leading independent research provider based in New York. Earlier in her career, Martha was the Director of Global Fixed Income Research at Lehman Brothers where she oversaw all research and index products until 1994. While at Lehman Martha was responsible for building the Fixed Income team that captured the number one position in the Institutional Investor rankings when the poll was established. Between Lehman Brothers and CreditSights, Martha was a private investor, based in Maine, where she served on the Boards and Investment Committees of several charitable organizations. Martha graduated from Mount Holyoke College with an AB in Mathematics and Economics in 1979 and currently serves on the Board of the Maine Community Foundation.

EILEEN A. FAHEY, CFA is the Chief Credit Officer at Fitch Ratings. She and her team of regional and group credit officers are responsible for ratings oversight, quality assurance, credit market commentary and research globally. Previously, Ms. Fahey was the Regional Credit Officer for the Americas at Fitch Ratings playing an important role in helping to evolve Fitch's credit policy in the wake of the global financial crisis. Ms. Fahey has held a variety of roles during her tenure at Fitch, including group credit officer for the Insurance, Fund and Asset Managers, and REITs groups. In these roles she oversaw the development and application of credit rating criteria and participated in ratings committees. Ms. Fahey joined Fitch Ratings in 1998 as a credit analyst in the financial institutions group, eventually leading the analytical teams on investment and money center banks, and asset management firms including traditional mutual fund managers, hedge fund managers and derivatives product companies.

Prior to joining Fitch, Ms. Fahey was a National Bank Examiner with the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). At the OCC, she was a member of the multinational banking group and examined capital markets and trading operations of U.S. money center banks. Ms. Fahey received a BA in business and economics from St. Mary’s College, Notre Dame, Indiana, and has been a chartered financial analyst (CFA) charterholder since 1994.

MARK HOCHBERG is a Director in BlackRock's Investment Servicesdepartment and has worked at BlackRock, Inc. in a variety of management, information technology and project management roles.  Prior to joining BlackRock, Mark managed application development and system engineering teams at Credit Suisse First Boston.  Mark received an S.B. in Computer Science and Engineering from M.I.T.  Outside of work, Mark contributes time and effort to a number of organizations, primarily those focusing on the promotion of the sciences and performing arts, the ongoing health and prosperity of New York and Finance.

MARK HOWARD, CFA, Immediate Past-President of FIASI, is the Head of US Credit Strategy at BNP Paribas. He directs a team that provides strategic and portfolio advice related to the US Investment Grade, High Yield and Structured Credit markets. Previously, Mark spent 5 years at Barclays Capital, where he was a Managing Director and held the roles of Co-Head of Global Research and Head of Credit Analysis.  At Barclays, he was active in a range of firm-wide initiatives as a member of the firm's Management, Recruitment and Diversity committees.  Prior to joining Barclays in April 2004, Mr. Howard was at Lehman Brothers for 18 years, where he was a Managing Director and Global Credit Strategist.  In that capacity, he was responsible for the firm’s high grade, high yield, emerging market and credit derivative strategy teams.  As an active researcher, Mr. Howard has been recognized as a fixed income ‘All American’ by Institutional Investor magazine 11 times, including first place rankings in 7 of those years.  Mr. Howard received his MBA in Finance from New York University and his bachelor’s degree in Economics from Colby College.  He is an Overseer of the Board of Trustees of Colby College and serves on the Board as well as the Finance and Investment Committees of Village Community School in New York City.  He also serves on the Board and Finance Committee for University College London’s Friends and Alumni Association.  He was president of FIASI in the fiscal years 2011—2012 and 2014—2015.

DAVID W. MUNVES, CFA is a Managing Director at Moody’s Analytics, and is in charge of the Capital Markets Research Group. The group manages and researches applications of the firm’s suite of markets-based signals, principally EDF (Expected Default Frequency) metrics for public firms and the Market Implied Ratings service, as well as the Capital Markets Economics group.  David joined Moody’s in December 2004. Prior to joining Moody’s David worked for nine years in Lehman Brothers’ Fixed Income Research Group in London.  At Lehman he headed the European Credit Strategy Group for seven years before taking responsibility for the European Fixed Income Index Group.  He began his sell side career at Kidder Peabody and PaineWebber. David also worked for 10 years at Standard & Poor’s Ratings Group, where he held a variety of analytical and managerial positions in New York, Stockholm, and London. Prior to joining S&P David was a lending officer with Swiss Bank Corporation in New York. A Chartered Financial Analyst, David holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Kenyon College and a Master’s Degree in International and Public Affairs from Columbia University.  He was president of FIASI from 2009 to 2011.

PETER PETAS is the President and COO of CreditSights, was an original investor and co-founder of CreditSights. Peter has been responsible for a range of activities within CreditSights including the restructuring and expansion of the company's global sales force and direct oversight of the globally integrated research teams. Peter draws heavily on the breadth of perspective that he developed during his 20+ years in the discipline of corporate, sovereign, and emerging markets research. During that time, the quality of his research work in the face of rapidly changing market dynamics and increasingly frequent bouts of sovereign and regional credit stress earned him broad professional recognition. Peter has been recognized in various investor polls in Emerging Markets Strategy, Sovereign Debt Research, Canadian Debt, and Asian Debt Research. Among Peter's achievements, Institutional Investor ranked him as the #1 Sovereign Debt analysts for five consecutive years.

Prior to founding CreditSights Inc. in 2000, Peter was a Managing Director and Head of Global Emerging Market Debt Strategy at Deutsche Bank (1997 to 2000), where he was responsible for a group of analysts located in London, New York, and Singapore and was the principal strategist for the Global Markets Emerging Markets business. From 1988 to 1997, Peter was the Senior Sovereign Debt Strategist and Yankee Bond analyst at Lehman Brothers. Peter graduated from Princeton University with an AB in History in 1988.

ROBERT SLOWKO is a Business Development Manager at MSCI, responsible for the strategy, marketing and sales of the entire suite of company’s ESG products. Robert joined MSCI through the acquisition of GMI Ratings in August 2014. Prior to MSCI Robert worked as a Business Development Manager for the Hedge Funds group of Thomson Reuters and was involved in multiple projects including launching an Emerging Markets group or developing company’s North American Hedge Funds product, marketing and sales strategy. He held a number of positions in the financial industry including Emerging Markets research and trading at Galleon International, senior roles in global funds custody at RBC Dexia Investor Services, foreign exchange trading or economic research. Robert has been actively involved in FIASI since 2010. He participated in and was responsible for a number of projects critical to the organization. Robert holds a Master’s of Arts degree in Economics from Cracow University of Economics and a Master’s of Business Administration in Finance from Fordham University.

DIANE VAZZA is the Head of Global Fixed Income Research at Standard & Poor’s.  Her analyses, forecasts and research on global credit markets have earned her an international audience.

Diane has 30 years’ experience working in the capital markets, including rating agency, regulatory, trading, credit and banking experience at Drexel Burnham Lambert, Citibank and Chase Manhattan Bank. Credit Magazine named Diane one of the top 50 women across the globe in credit and fixed income. She has traveled to over 100 countries. Diane holds a BA degree in Classics (Latin and Ancient Greek) and French from Holy Cross College. She was President of FIASI in 2004—2005 and Chaired FIASI’s Inaugural Women in Fixed Income Conference in 2015.

See the 2015 Holiday Party pictures!

 

holiday party 12 09 15 011

 

Officers

President

ROBERT SLOWKO is a Business Development Manager at MSCI, responsible for the strategy, marketing and sales of the entire suite of company’s ESG products. Robert joined MSCI through the acquisition of GMI Ratings in August 2014. Prior to MSCI Robert worked as a Business Development Manager for the Hedge Funds group of Thomson Reuters and was involved in multiple projects including launching an Emerging Markets group or developing company’s North American Hedge Funds product, marketing and sales strategy. He held a number of positions in the financial industry including Emerging Markets research and trading at Galleon International, senior roles in global funds custody at RBC Dexia Investor Services, foreign exchange trading or economic research. Robert has been actively involved in FIASI since 2010. He participated in and was responsible for a number of projects critical to the organization. Robert holds a Master’s of Arts degree in Economics from Cracow University of Economics and a Master’s of Business Administration in Finance from Fordham University.

Vice-President

LARRY WHITE is a Managing Director of DBRS, a Carlyle and Warburg Pincus company, since 2006. His responsibilities include managing and growing relationships with financial institutions, sovereign related issuers and other constituents of DBRS, such as investors and bankers.

Before joining DBRS, Larry spent more than 8 years at Moody’s Investors Service, where he was responsible for product development related to global financial institutions and Latin America. In addition, he has held positions at several banks including The Bank of New York and First Horizon. Larry received his MBA from Columbia University and his BS in Finance/Economics from Christian Brothers University.

Treasurer

MARIAROSA VERDE is a Group Credit Officer for the Americas Corporate Finance team at Moody’s Investors Service. She is responsible for maintaining and promoting high quality ratings and works closely with senior analysts and managers to identify emerging credit risks and initiate timely action.

Prior to joining Moody’s in June 2015, Mariarosa was a Managing Director and Head of Credit Market Research at Fitch Ratings. Her responsibilities included examining rating and credit quality trends, conducting in-depth default and recovery studies, and providing insight on key developments in the bond and loan markets. Earlier in her career, Mariarosa was a high yield analyst at the Chase Manhattan Bank.

Mariarosa has published articles on default risk and other credit topics in professional magazines and books. Mariarosa holds a BS and an MBA in finance and economics, magna cum laude, from New York University’s Stern School of Business. Mariarosa was the president of Fixed Income Analysts Society in 2007-2008.

Secretary

MARK HOWARD, CFA, is a Senior Multi-Asset Specialist at BNP Paribas. His analysis and work with investors cuts across the global markets, with a particular emphasis on Fixed Income. Previously, Mark spent 5 years at Barclays Capital, where he was a Managing Director and held the roles of Co-Head of Global Research and Head of Credit Analysis. Prior to joining Barclays in April 2004, Mr. Howard was at Lehman Brothers for 18 years, where he was a Managing Director and Global Credit Strategist. In that capacity, he was responsible for the firm’s high grade, high yield, emerging market and credit derivative strategy teams. As an active researcher, Mr. Howard has been recognized as a fixed income ‘All American’ by Institutional Investor magazine 11 times, including first place rankings in 7 of those years. Mr. Howard received his MBA in Finance from New York University and his bachelor’s degree in Economics from Colby College. Mark Chairs the Board of the University College Friends and Alumni Association, is on the Board of the Friends of IHES, and is a member of the Maine Community Foundation Investment Committee. Previously he was an Overseer of the Board of Trustees of Colby College and served on the Board as Treasurer of Village Community School in New York City. He was president of FIASI in the fiscal years 2011—2012 and 2014—2015.

Member-at-large

MONICA AGGARWAL, CFA is a Managing Director within Fitch’s U.S. Corporate Ratings group and Team Head of Retail and Consumer. She is responsible for the sector team covering retail, consumer products, packaged foods, restaurants, and beverages across the investment grade and high yield space. Prior to joining Fitch in September 2007, Monica spent almost ten years in equity research at Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch and Chapdelaine Institutional Equities covering various retail segments. Monica earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in economics from Delhi University and an MBA with majors in finance and international business from Fordham Gabelli School of Business. She is a CFA® charterholder and a member of the CFA Institute and CFA Society New York.

RALPH DECESARE, CFA, CAIA is Vice-President & Director and Head of credit research for TD Asset Management. As part of the Toronto-based TD Bank Financial Group, one of the largest banks in North America, TDAM manages over US$250 billion in assets under management on behalf of pension, insurance, endowment/foundation and corporate clients, as well as for high-net worth individuals and retail mutual funds. Prior to joining TDAM, Ralph was a director of fixed income research at Merrill Lynch Investment Managers from 1990 to 2006. Responsibilities included leading a team of fixed income analysts that helped manage over $150 billion in fixed income assets including mutual funds, money market and institutional accounts. Ralph also has had two separate terms at Standard & Poor’s Corp. as a debt ratings analyst, covering multiple industries including electric utilities, natural gas and financial institutions. Ralph earned an MBA in finance from Fordham University, and a B.S. in finance from the University of Arizona. Ralph is a Past President of the Fixed Income Analyst Society, Inc., a 250+ member non-profit professional organization that furthers the education and careers of its members, and is the sponsor of the FIASI Hall of Fame. Ralph is a member of the CFA Society of New York and the Canadian Bond Investors Association. He is a CFA charterholder and Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst. He serves on the Board of Gibney Dance, a non-profit in New York City.

MARK HOCHBERG is a Director in BlackRock's Data Services department, running their Data Science and Operations Analytics team. He has worked at BlackRock, Inc. since 1998 in a variety of management, information technology and project management roles. Prior to joining BlackRock, Mark managed application development and system engineering teams at Credit Suisse First Boston. Mark received an S.B. in Computer Science and Engineering from M.I.T. Outside work, Mark contributes time and effort to a number of organizations, primarily those focusing on the promotion of the sciences and performing arts, the ongoing health and prosperity of New York and, of course, Finance.

ARASH KAMYAB, is a Cross-Currency basis trader at UBS Securities LLC. He is responsible for global basis book, and a market maker in G10 cross currency basis. Arash also spent 4 year at UBS as a quant developer.

Prior to joining UBS in 2014, Mr. Kamyab was at Thomson Reuters for 8 years where he was a Fixed Income specialist working closely with Hedge Funds, Banks and Credit Agencies and helping Thomson Reuters grow the business in Fixed income data and analytics.

Mr. Kamyab received his bachelor’s degree in Software Engineering from McMaster University.

SARAH KLINE is a product manager for Bloomberg's index business. Sarah led the effort to integrate the AusBond Indices, a family of Australian fixed income benchmarks purchased from UBS in 2014, onto the Bloomberg platform and continues to manage this business. Currently, Ms Kline is providing a leadership role in the full migration of the newly acquired Barclays Indices to Bloomberg and managing the development of Bloomberg Terminal functions to provide customization and greater transparency into the indices.

Sarah joined Bloomberg in 2011 to focus on the expansion of PORT, Bloomberg’s Portfolio and Risk Analytics platform, into fixed income portfolio analysis. Prior to joining Bloomberg, Sarah spent 6 years at Lehman Brothers and Barclays Capital helping to build POINT, a platform for portfolio and index analytics, and growing relationships with key clients.

Sarah attended Phillips Academy Andover and Brown University where she graduated with honors, earning a Sc.B. degree in Electrical Engineering.

HENRY SHILLING, Director of Research, Sustainable Research and Analysis LLC, a NYC-based early stage start-up focused on offering independent, objective and cost effective research, analysis and portfolio implementation strategies directed at investors who wish to integrate sustainability considerations into their investing plans.

Previously with Moody’s Investors, Henry in more recent years initiated and coordinated Moody’s efforts to expand disclosure and add transparency in research, ratings and analysis to the reflection of environmental, social and governance (ESG) risks. He also led the firm’s effort to launch and implement a methodology for assessing green bonds world-wide. In these and other capacities over the years, Henry published research articles, was a frequent commentator, and regularly presented Moody’s views at various industry conferences.

With Moody’s between 1992 and June 2017, Henry played a leading role in the development and management of the firm’s Managed Investments Group.

Henry is the author of The International Guide to Securities Market Indices which was published in 1996 by International Publishing Corp., Chicago, Illinois. He is a contributor to Money Market Funds in the EU and the US, published in 2014 by Oxford University Press.

He earned a B.A. in economics from Lehman College, City University of New York in 1971.

BRIAN TOTH, CFA is a Senior Credit Analyst at the New York State Insurance Fund responsible for the utilities, energy, media, telecom, transportation and metals & mining sectors. Other sectors Mr. Toth has experience include the retail, consumer products and services, and has expertise in high-yield, investment grade and distressed securities. Mr. Toth has more than 14 years of experience in corporate credit analysis, counterparty credit risk assessment, sovereign risk determination and private equity analysis at various institutions. Previously Mr. Toth was a Private Equity Consultant and Credit Analyst Consultant for APG Asset Management, Senior Credit Analyst at Paloma Partners, Director and Senior Credit Analyst at Babson Capital Management (now Barings Capital) and Senior Counterparty Credit Analyst at PaineWebber.

Brian received an MBA from the Simon School (University of Rochester) in 2001 and received a BS in Accounting and Finance from SUNY/Buffalo in 1990. Brian has been a CFA charterholder since 1998.

DIANE VAZZA is the Global Head of Fixed Income Research at S&P Global and chairs the firm’s Ratings Performance Governance Council.

Diane began her Wall Street journey by surviving Chase Bank’s two-year credit training program. Her career spans banking, capital markets, regulatory, trading, and credit research at Chase, Drexel Burnham Lambert and Citibank. Credit Magazine named Diane one of the top 50 women across the globe in credit and fixed income. She has traveled to over 100 countries.

Diane is a certified Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) and volunteers for Emergency Medical Services (EMS) 911 rescue squad. Diane holds a BA degree in both Classics (Latin and Ancient Greek) and French from College of the Holy Cross. She is past President of FIASI, Chaired FIASI’s Inaugural 2015 Women in Fixed Income Conference (WiFI-New York) and 2016 WiFI -Boston Conference.

Officers

President

LARRY WHITE is a Managing Director of DBRS, a Carlyle and Warburg Pincus company, since 2006. His responsibilities include managing and growing relationships with financial institutions, sovereign related issuers and other constituents of DBRS, such as investors and bankers.

Before joining DBRS, Larry spent more than 8 years at Moody’s Investors Service, where he was responsible for product development related to global financial institutions and Latin America. In addition, he has held positions at several banks including The Bank of New York and First Horizon. Larry received his MBA from Columbia University and his BS in Finance/Economics from Christian Brothers University.

Vice-President

MONICA AGGARWAL, CFA is a Managing Director within Fitch’s U.S. Corporate Ratings group and Team Head of Retail and Consumer. She is responsible for the sector team covering retail, consumer products, packaged foods, restaurants, and beverages across the investment grade and high yield space. Prior to joining Fitch in September 2007, Monica spent almost ten years in equity research at Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch and Chapdelaine Institutional Equities covering various retail segments. Monica earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in economics from Delhi University and an MBA with majors in finance and international business from Fordham Gabelli School of Business. She is a CFA charterholder and a member of the CFA Institute and CFA Society New York.

Treasurer

MARIAROSA VERDE is a Group Credit Officer for the Americas Corporate Finance team at Moody’s Investors Service. She is responsible for maintaining and promoting high quality ratings and works closely with senior analysts and managers to identify emerging credit risks and initiate timely action.

Prior to joining Moody’s in June 2015, Mariarosa was a Managing Director and Head of Credit Market Research at Fitch Ratings. Her responsibilities included examining rating and credit quality trends, conducting in-depth default and recovery studies, and providing insight on key developments in the bond and loan markets. Earlier in her career, Mariarosa was a high yield analyst at the Chase Manhattan Bank.

Mariarosa has published articles on default risk and other credit topics in professional magazines and books. Mariarosa holds a BS and an MBA in finance and economics, magna cum laude, from New York University’s Stern School of Business. Mariarosa was the president of Fixed Income Analysts Society in 2007-2008.

Secretary

MARK HOWARD, CFA, is a Senior Multi-Asset Specialist at BNP Paribas. His analysis and work with investors cuts across the global markets, with a particular emphasis on Fixed Income. Previously, Mark spent 5 years at Barclays Capital, where he was a Managing Director and held the roles of Co-Head of Global Research and Head of Credit Analysis. Prior to joining Barclays in April 2004, Mr. Howard was at Lehman Brothers for 18 years, where he was a Managing Director and Global Credit Strategist. In that capacity, he was responsible for the firm’s high grade, high yield, emerging market and credit derivative strategy teams. As an active researcher, Mr. Howard has been recognized as a fixed income ‘All American’ by Institutional Investor magazine 11 times, including first place rankings in 7 of those years. Mr. Howard received his MBA in Finance from New York University and his bachelor’s degree in Economics from Colby College. Mark Chairs the Board of the University College Friends and Alumni Association, is on the Board of the Friends of IHES, and is a member of the Maine Community Foundation Investment Committee. Previously he was an Overseer of the Board of Trustees of Colby College and served on the Board as Treasurer of Village Community School in New York City. He was president of FIASI in the fiscal years 2011—2012 and 2014—2015.

Member-at-large

RALPH DECESARE, CFA, CAIA is Managing Director and Head of credit research for TD Asset Management. As part of the Toronto-based TD Bank Financial Group, one of the largest banks in North America, TDAM manages about $300 billion in assets under management on behalf of pension, insurance, endowment/foundation and corporate clients, as well as for high-net worth individuals and retail mutual funds. Prior to joining TDAM, Ralph was a director of fixed income research at Merrill Lynch Investment Managers for 16 years. Responsibilities included leading a team of fixed income analysts that helped manage over $150 billion in fixed income assets including mutual funds, money market and institutional accounts. Ralph also has had two separate terms at Standard & Poor’s Corp. as a debt ratings analyst, covering multiple industries including electric utilities, natural gas and financial institutions. Ralph earned an MBA in finance from Fordham University, and a B.S. in finance from the University of Arizona. Ralph served as a of President of the FIASI in the fiscal years 2012—2014. Ralph is a member of the CFA Society of New York and the Canadian Bond Investors Association. He is a CFA charterholder and Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst. He serves on the Board of Gibney Dance, a non-profit in New York City.

MARK HOCHBERG is a Director in BlackRock's Technology and Enterprise Services department, a member of their AI Labs team. He has worked at BlackRock, Inc. since 1998 in a variety of management, information technology and project management roles. Prior to joining BlackRock, Mark managed application development and system engineering teams at Credit Suisse First Boston. Mark received an S.B. in Computer Science and Engineering from M.I.T. Outside work, Mark contributes time and effort to a number of organizations, primarily those focusing on the promotion of the sciences and performing arts, the ongoing health and prosperity of New York and, of course, Finance.

ARASH KAMYAB is an Associate Director, Emerging Markets Interest Rates trader at UBS Securities LLC. He is responsible for the Latam Rates book of business, and a market maker in Latam Rates & FX. Arash also spent 4 year at UBS as a quant developer.

Prior to joining UBS in 2014, Mr. Kamyab was at Thomson Reuters for 8 years where he was a Fixed Income specialist working closely with Hedge Funds, Banks and Credit Agencies and helping Thomson Reuters grow the business in Fixed Income data and analytics.

Mr. Kamyab received his bachelor’s degree in Software Engineering from McMaster University.

PAWEL MOSAKOWSKI is an accomplished fixed income PM, trader and an expert risk manager. He spent 20 years in the institutional fixed income business currently leading Summit Place Advisers, LLC an advisory practice helping insurance companies and asset managers with investment process and risk management solutions. Prior to that Pawel was managing a multi-billion dollar corporate credit portfolio as a senior leader of Deutsche Bank’s Credit Portfolio Strategies Group. An expert in fixed income, derivatives and complex risk, Pawel led a proprietary platform managing portfolio of corporate loans, bonds, derivatives and structured products. He developed comprehensive investment and risk management process and delivered industry leading results during the credit crisis and beyond. Under his leadership DB CPSG was awarded Risk Magazine’s Credit Portfolio Manager of the Year distinction three times. Prior to this Pawel was at Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein where he traded Corporate Credit, Emerging Markets and built Credit Derivatives business in North America. Pawel earned his MBA in Finance from New York University’s Stern School of Business and previously studied Mechanical Engineering at the Warsaw University of Technology.

HENRY SHILLING Founder and Director of Research, Sustainable Research and Analysis LLC, a NYC-based firm offering independent research and analysis, portfolio implementation strategies, consulting, education as well as training services targeted at investors who wish to integrate sustainability considerations into their investment approaches.

Previously with Moody’s Investors, Henry in more recent years initiated and coordinated Moody’s efforts to expand disclosure and add transparency in research, ratings and analysis to the reflection of environmental, social and governance (ESG) risks. He also led the firm’s effort to launch and implement a methodology for assessing green bonds world-wide. In these and other capacities over the years, Henry published research articles, was a frequent commentator, and regularly presented Moody’s views at various industry conferences.

With Moody’s between 1992 and June 2017, Henry played a leading role in the development and management of the firm’s Managed Investments Group.

Henry is the author of The International Guide to Securities Market Indices which was published in 1996 by International Publishing Corp., Chicago, Illinois. He is a contributor to Money Market Funds in the EU and the US, published in 2014 by Oxford University Press. Henry served as a President of FIASI during the fiscal years 2015—2017. He earned a B.A. in economics from Lehman College, City University of New York in 1971.

JASVINDER SINGH is a product manager for Bloomberg's index business. In his current role, Jas oversees the development of Bloomberg Barclays Municipal, Canadian and Bloomberg Currency indices. He is also a member of Bloomberg Indices PROC (Product, Risk and Operations Committee), which provides governance oversight of benchmark indices, strategy indices and fixings administered by Bloomberg. In his prior roles at Bloomberg, Jas was the head of Bloomberg Index production, and managed Bloomberg Index Classification System (BICS) and Dividend forecasting (BDVD) products in Global Data.

Jas attended Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kharagpur for Bachelor in Technology (B.Tech) and Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Calcutta for his MBA. Jas is also a CFA charterholder.

ROBERT SLOWKO is a Business Development Manager at MSCI, responsible for the strategy, marketing and sales of the entire suite of company’s ESG products. Robert joined MSCI through the acquisition of GMI Ratings in August 2014. Prior to MSCI Robert worked as a Business Development Manager for the Hedge Funds group of Thomson Reuters and was involved in multiple projects including launching an Emerging Markets group or developing company’s North American Hedge Funds product, marketing and sales strategy. He held a number of positions in the financial industry including Emerging Markets research and trading at Galleon International, senior roles in global funds custody at RBC Dexia Investor Services, foreign exchange trading or economic research. Robert has been actively involved in FIASI since 2010 and is the immediate past president. He participated in and was responsible for a number of projects critical to the organization. Robert holds a Master’s of Arts degree in Economics from Cracow University of Economics and a Master’s of Business Administration in Finance from Fordham University.

BRIAN TOTH, CFA is a Senior Credit Analyst at the New York State Insurance Fund responsible for the utilities, energy, media, telecom, transportation and metals & mining sectors.  Other sectors Mr. Toth has experience include the retail, consumer products and services, and has expertise in high-yield, investment grade and distressed securities.  Mr. Toth has more than 15 years of experience in corporate credit analysis, counter party credit risk assessment, sovereign risk determination and private equity analysis at various institutions.  Previously Mr. Toth was a Private Equity Consultant and Credit Analyst Consultant for APG Asset Management, Senior Credit Analyst at Paloma Partners, Director and Senior Credit Analyst at Babson Capital Management (now Barings Capital) and Senior Counterparty Credit Analyst at PaineWebber.

Brian received an MBA from the Simon School (University of Rochester) in 2001 and received a BS in Accounting and Finance from SUNY/Buffalo in 1990.  Brian has been a CFA charterholder since 1998.

DIANE VAZZA is Global Head of Fixed Income Research at S&P Global Ratings and chairs the firm’s Ratings Performance Governance Council. Her team’s analyses, forecasts and research on global credit markets and studies on ratings behavior have earned an international audience.

Diane began her Wall Street journey by surviving Chase Bank’s two-year credit training program. Her career spans banking, capital markets, regulatory oversight, trading, and credit research at Chase, Drexel Burnham Lambert, and Citibank. Credit Magazine named Diane one of the top 50 women across the globe in credit and fixed income. She has traveled to over 100 countries.

She is past President of the FIASI for the fiscal year 2004—2005, Chaired FIASI’s Inaugural 2015 & 2016 Women in Fixed Income Conferences (WiFI-New York and Boston).

Diane is a certified Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) and volunteers for Emergency Medical Services (EMS) 911 rescue squad.

Diane holds a BA degree in both Classics (Latin and Ancient Greek) and French from College of the Holy Cross.

In recent years we have created commemorative gift books that relive the event through photography. These hardcover coffee table books are a great way to remember the event for years to come.

 


 

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Moody's Credit Outlook

Moody's Credit Outlook report is available here. Published Monday and Thursday mornings, Moody's Credit Outlook provides you with the credit implications of current events.