THIS EVENT IS SOLD OUT AND WE CANNOT ACCEPT ADDITIONAL REGISTRATIONS
Smith's High Yield Municipal Bond Conference
Join us LIVE.
Financing the infrastructure of tomorrow through today's high yield municipal bond market.
We're looking forward to meeting together in person for the first time in 24 months. So much has changed during COVID, but our commitment to the municipal high yield bond market remains steadfast.
Now, investors are emerging from their foxholes to learn more about specific credits and entire credit sectors at Smith's High Yield Municipal Bond Conference. "No-Look Lending" never ends well, so smart investors know that playing it safe in a low rate environment requires reaching for higher yielding investments. Smith’s High Yield Municipal Bond Conference examines the nexus of technical demand along with the nature and durability of revenues that support the repayment of high-yield bonds over the next 30 years.
Market experts will explain how to read between the lines to see what is missing from today's high yield municipal bond documents. High Yield investors will talk about the various pitfalls and opportunities in Higher Education, Charter Schools, Assisted Living, Transportation, Public Power and Project Finance.
Come join us in Greenwich to share the lessons learned from coping with COVID and to discuss how we are going to build a better high yield bond market.
Beyond COVID, one of the main themes is whither go interest rates. Inflation may be transitory and rates may go lower for longer, but opportunities abound to select bonds that will outperform indices.
Conference Sponsors:
Platinum Sponsor
Gold Sponsor
Luncheon Sponsor
Cocktail Sponsor
Breakfast Sponsor
Silver
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Bronze
To find out how your firm can maximize its presence at Smith's High Yield Municipal Bond Conference with a Sponsorship Package,
please contact Pamela Kilbourn at (571) 299-4954
THIS EVENT IS SOLD OUT AND WE CANNOT ACCEPT ADDITIONAL REGISTRATIONS
Smith's High Yield Municipal Bond Conference
Join us LIVE.
Financing the infrastructure of tomorrow through today's high yield municipal bond market.
We're looking forward to meeting together in person for the first time in 24 months. So much has changed during COVID, but our commitment to the municipal high yield bond market remains steadfast.
Now, investors are emerging from their foxholes to learn more about specific credits and entire credit sectors at Smith's High Yield Municipal Bond Conference. "No-Look Lending" never ends well, so smart investors know that playing it safe in a low rate environment requires reaching for higher yielding investments. Smith’s High Yield Municipal Bond Conference examines the nexus of technical demand along with the nature and durability of revenues that support the repayment of high-yield bonds over the next 30 years.
Market experts will explain how to read between the lines to see what is missing from today's high yield municipal bond documents. High Yield investors will talk about the various pitfalls and opportunities in Higher Education, Charter Schools, Assisted Living, Transportation, Public Power and Project Finance.
Come join us in Greenwich to share the lessons learned from coping with COVID and to discuss how we are going to build a better high yield bond market.
Beyond COVID, one of the main themes is whither go interest rates. Inflation may be transitory and rates may go lower for longer, but opportunities abound to select bonds that will outperform indices.
Conference Sponsors:
Platinum Sponsor
Gold Sponsor
Luncheon Sponsor
Cocktail Sponsor
Breakfast Sponsor
Silver
Bronze
To find out how your firm can maximize its presence at Smith's High Yield Municipal Bond Conference with a Sponsorship Package,
please contact Pamela Kilbourn at (571) 299-4954
Program at a Glance
Thursday, October 21, 2021
8:00 am
CONFERENCE REGISTRATION
Continental Breakfast
Sponsored by: McDermott Will & Emery
8:45 am
WELCOME REMARKS
9:00 am
CHARTER SCHOOLS: IS IT SAFE TO JUMP IN THE POOL?
No matter how well you do your homework on a specific charter school, you still may end up owning a fly-by night credit if you buy a pool deal. Smith’s charter school panel will look at the various ways structured financing measures the average quality of the pool. In a distressed situation or workout, what is the role of the borrower representative, the servicer and the bondholder? Who benefits the most in charter school pooled deals? Do you know what's lurking beneath the surface? Dive into the Charter School sector to learn the latest.
Prakash Vadlamani — Moderator
Associate Portfolio Manager
Senior Research Analyst
Amundi Asset Management
Scott Rolfs
Managing Director
Ziegler
Adrienne Walker
Partner
Locke Lord LLP
Avani Parikh
Senior Director & Analytical Manager
S&P Global Ratings
Shai Markowicz
Director
Citi
9:45 am
REAL LIQUIDITY, REAL SPREADS, AND AN UNREAL ECONOMIC CYCLE
What's really driving the demand for tax-exempt high-yield municipal bonds? Is inflation here to stay or is it transitory and rates are really going lower for longer? Panel members will discuss if a liquidity bubble exists in the high-yield municipal bond market and if so, how can we measure it? It's not just about higher yields, but also how to build better performance for your portfolio — one high-yield bond at a time.
Blake Anderson
Senior Managing Director
Head of Strategy & Research
Mesirow
Bill Black, CFA
Managing Director
Senior Portfolio Manager
City National Rochdale
Mark Paris
Chief Investment Officer
Head of Municipals
Invesco
10:30 am
COFFEE NETWORKING BREAK
10:45 am
SOLVING THE CAPITAL STACK FOR COMPLEX TRANSACTIONS...WHERE EXECUTION MATTERS
This panel will discuss several complicated, recently cleared transactions and feature a member of the issuer’s management team to underscore the importance of solid management to deal success. In addition, the panel will discuss some broken financings that are heading to “innovative” refinancing, often requiring collaboration between lawyers, investors and the banking team.
Yaffa Rattner — Moderator
Senior Managing Director
Head of Municipal Credit
HilltopSecurities
Michael Bartolotta
Executive Managing Director
Co-Head Debt Capital Markets
HilltopSeurities
John Paul Taylor
CEO
StoneGate Senior Living
Julie Morrone
Director of Research
Rosemawr Management
11:30 am
HIGHER EDUCATION UNDER STRESS
Universities and higher education institutions are in distress. With demographic and social pressures causing changes to entrance requirements, pandemic-related shutdowns and lockdowns colleges are facing unprecedented challenges. Panelists will discuss warning signs of distress as well as distinguishing features of schools successfully navigating the challenges.
Miyoko Sato - Moderator
Member
Chair, Public Finance, Real Estate, Bankruptcy, and Environmental Division
Mintz
Elyse Levesque
Director
Rosemawr Management
Jessica Wood
Sector Leader & Senior Director
USPF Education
S&P Global Ratings
Kristin Stephens
Managing Director, Head of Credit Strategies
UBS Financial Services
Chad Shandler
Senior Managing Director
FTI Consulting
12:15 pm
THE PHOENIX AWARD PRESENTATION
Smith's High Yield Award for Contributions and Achievements Throughout the Year
2021 Recipient: Bill Black, City National Rochdale
LUNCHEON
Sponsored by: MINTZ
1:15 pm
LAND DEVELOPMENT FINANCING
The huge influx of people into Colorado’s Front Range has created a land rush that sent home values soaring while property tax rates are declining. Contemplated growth-limits prompted a single subject challenge that went before the Colorado Supreme Court. The measure imposed a growth cap via the number of building permits that can be issued annually and cover a large portion of counties and municipalities along the eastern side of the Rocky Mountains. It proposed a change in state law and established some troubling preemption of home rule authority, as well as appearing to grant counties some explicit authority over municipal land use policy. If you believe in home rule, affordable housing, and good land use planning at the municipal level, then this one is not your cup of tea. This session will focus on some of the ins and outs of investing in this booming sector.
Shelby Noble
Senior Vice President, Special District Group
Piper Sandler
Otis Moore
Principal
Westside Investment Partners, Inc.
Jeff Wilson
Co-Portfolio Manager
Co-Managing Partner
Saybrook Fund Advisors
2:00 pm
TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE
Kristen Going
Partner
McDermott Will & Emery
Randall Gerardes
Managing Director and Head of Business Origination
Public Finance
Assured Guaranty
Mark Schmidt, CFA
Executive Director
Morgan Stanley
Marshall Kitain
Executive Director
Head of Municipal Bond Credit Analysis and Investor Marketing
J.P. Morgan
2:45 pm
READING BETWEEN THE LINES: WHAT IS MISSING FROM TODAY'S HIGH YIELD MUNICIPAL BOND DOCUMENTS
Panelists take a look at today’s high yield municipal bond documents and reads between the lines to see what is missing. The session builds on previous discussions about the erosion of bond covenants and weakening of credit factors to examine the very foundations of bondholder protection. The evidence is damning. Some high-yield bond documents have entire rights and remedies removed.
Colleen Murphy
Partner
Greenberg Traurig LLP - Moderator
Irina Palchuk
Senior Vice President and Workout Specialist
UMB Bank
Neene Jenkins
Executive Director
J.P. Morgan Asset Management
Margot Kleinman
Managing Director, Senior Research Analyst
Nuveen
3:30 pm
SENIOR LIVING — ONLY THE STRONG SURVIVE
Not all Life Plan Communities survived the COVID Pandemic. Why did most survive, yet several succumb to the stresses imposed on the sector? This panel will take an in depth look at 3 fallen LPCs to determine why they buckled under the pressure of the pandemic as well as insights on the “new normal” for the survivors.
Mary Jane Minier, CPA
Senior Analyst, Head of Opportunistic Credit Strategy
Invesco Ltd.
Ron Mintz, CFA
Principal and Senior Investment Analyst
The Vanguard Group
Dan Bleck
Member
Mintz
Naomi O'Dell
Director
RBC Capital Markets
Virginia Housum
Senior Vice President/Workout Specialist
UMB Bank
4:15 pm
TOBACCO BONDS: INTO THE WEEDS
The concerns about Vaping and E-Cigs accelerating the decline in cigarette sales are proving to be nothing but a smoke screen. Tobacco bonds remain a significant portion of the municipal bond high-yield index. What's going to drive demand to truly high levels, may be the growth in cannabis — beyond vape and into the weeds? Panelists will discuss the sector relative to trends in Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) payments and where investors may find pockets of investment opportunity for tobacco bonds offering strong estimated performance potential and adequate breakeven rates.
Dyer Greer
Senior Fixed Income Analyst
Victory Capital Management
Mikhail Foux
Managing Director
Barclays Investment Bank
4:45 pm
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT PRESENTATION
2021 Recipient: Virginia Housum, UMB Bank
5:00 pm
"MUNICIPAL BONDS ON THE ROCKS" COCKTAIL RECEPTION
Sponsored by: Greenberg Traurig, LLP
Featuring: Race to the Bottom
Jon Schotz
Co-Managing Partner, Co-Portfolio Manager
Saybrook Fund Advisors, LLC
Warren S. Bloom
Shareholder
Greenberg Traurig, LLP
James Schwartz, CFA
Managing Director, Head of Municipal Credit Research
BlackRock
Friday, October 22, 2021
7:30 am
CONFERENCE REGISTRATION
Continental Breakfast
Sponsored by: McDermott Will & Emery
8:00 am
WELCOME
8:15 am
STRATEGIES AND MEANINGFUL DISTINCTIONS IN HIGH YIELD MUNICIPAL BONDS
Warren S. Bloom
Shareholder, Co-Chair of the National Public Finance Practice
Greenberg Traurig, LLP
Michael Zezas, CFA
Managing Director
Morgan Stanley
Sandy Pae Goldstein
Managing Director, Head of Credit and Structuring
Foundation Credit
Dan Seymour, CFA
Vice President
Moody's Investors Service
9:00 am
PUERTO RICO PANEL
Bill Kannel — Moderator
Member
Mintz
The Honorable Rafael "Tatito" Hernández Montañez
Speaker
Puerto Rico House of Representatives
Ian Rogow
Director, Co-Head Municipal Bond Research
BofA Securities
Manuel Mirabal
Principal
Urban Connective Solutions, Inc.
Washington, DC
10:15 am
COFFEE NETWORKING BREAK
10:30 am
LOCAL GOVERNMENTS: WHEN THEY STUMBLE
Although most local governments don't fall into the high yield bucket, the ones that do fall hard. The pandemic added another level of stress to these credits. Oyster Bay, Long Island despite its wealth; upstate cities like Amsterdam or Newburgh; state capitals such as Harrisburg and Hartford -- have all been hit with financial stresses. Panelists will discuss how these local governments got into trouble, how they might recover and what the future might hold.
Susannah Page - Moderator
Senior Vice President
Director of Research
Roosevelt & Cross, Inc.
Steven DeGroat
Commissioner of Finance and Budget
Rockland County, New York
Doug Goldmacher
Vice President
Senior Analyst
Moody's Investors Service
John Hallacy
President
John Hallacy Consulting, LLC
11:15 am
HEALTHCARE CREDITS DURING COVID AND BEYOND
Ian Hammel
Member
Mintz
Cyril Swatko
Senior Fixed Income Research Analyst
Victory Capital Management
Peter Chadwick
Managing Director
Berkeley Research Group (BRG)
Andrew Turnbull
Managing Director
Houlihan Lokey
12:00 pm
CONFERENCE ADJOURNS
THIS EVENT IS SOLD OUT AND WE ARE UNABLE TO ACCOMODATE ANY ADDITIONAL REGISTRATIONS
$1,250 per person Standard Rate:
(Broker/Dealer & Underwriting Firms, Sell-Side Firms, Commercial Banks, Financial Advisors, Attorneys,
Credit Enhancers, Corporate Trust, Rating Agencies)
$700 per person Investor Rate:
(Mutual Funds, ETFs, Hedge Funds, Asset Managers, Portfolio Managers)
$400 per person Issuer/Governmental Rate
Registration fee includes course materials, breakfast, lunch, and breaks during the conference.
Payment by credit card, company check or personal check is required prior to the event.
Group Discounts
Groups of 3 or more Standard Rate — $1,125 per person.
(Broker/Dealer & Underwriting Firms, Sell-Side Firms, Commercial Banks, Financial Advisors, Attorneys,
Credit Enhancers, Corporate Trust, Rating Agencies)
Groups of 3 or more Investors — $630 per person.
(Mutual Funds, ETFs, Hedge Funds, Asset Managers, Portfolio Managers)
Groups of 3 or more Issuer/Governmental Rate — $360 per person.
*To participate in Smith's Research & Gradings live conferences and events, all attendees, speakers, and other participants must provide documentation of full vaccination against COVID-19. (See COVID-19 Protocols below)
Cancellations
Cancellations are subject to a $100 service fee. Cancellations will be accepted up to 30 days prior to the Conference in order to receive a refund. Cancellations after the 30 day cut-off will receive a registration credit toward a future Smith’s conference program. Credits will be issued at the paid registration rate and will be valid for 12 months. Registration credit requests must be received by the last day of the conference.
Substitutions
Substitutions from your company will be accepted any time prior to the conference.
Program Cancellation
In the event that Smith's Research & Gradings cancels a scheduled program, all registrants will be notified in writing via email.
Registration fees will be refunded. In the event that the scheduled program is canceled, Smith's Research & Gradings cannot be held liable for non-refundable transportation costs. In the case of inclement weather, or acts of God, if the scheduled program takes place, the registration fee is not refundable.
Complaint Resolution
Address any complaints to Pamela Kilbourn, Smith's Research & Gradings, P.O. Box 1195, Great Falls, VA 22066; email to pamkilbourn@smithsresearch.net or phone (571) 299-4954. Complaints will be handled in as timely a manner as possible.
Privacy Policy & Records Retention
Smith's Research & Gradings values your privacy. Smith's retains information submitted during the registration process with regard to your name, company and contact information. We will never willfully sell, lease, or rent any of your personally identifiable information to any third party
As a Smith's Conference attendee, you will receive a complimentary edition of Smith's Research & Gradings — the leading independent source for credit opinions.
Registration
Business Casual
Register by Phone: (571) 299-4954;
Email: smiths@smithsresearch.net ;
Online: Registration is Closed
Mail: TMS Holdings, Inc., P.O. Box 1195, Great Falls, VA 22066
Payment
Payment is required prior to the conference. We accept company or personal checks; MC, Visa, American Express and Discover credit cards or, via PayPal using all major credit or debit cards.
COVID-19 Protocols
Smith's Research & Gradings is pleased to welcome the municipal bond community back to our in-person events. The safety of those attending Smith’s High Yield Municipal Bond Conference is our top priority. In response to COVID-19, attendees must agree to the following requirements prior to attending the conference.
We are strong in our commitment to keeping the municipal bond community informed, engaged, and connected. Therefore, we are relying on everyone to do their part to keep themselves and everyone else safe during the conference. Your conduct impacts others.
Smith’s Research & Gradings will exercise reasonable efforts to utilize protocols that will comply with or exceed any local public health requirements and be consistent with then-prevailing public health standards.
Participation and Compliance
•To participate in Smith's Research & Gradings live conferences and events, all attendees, speakers, and other participants must provide documentation of full vaccination against COVID-19. Fully vaccinated is defined as having received, at least 14 days prior the second dose of a two-dose COVID-19 vaccine (Pfizer or Moderna) or a single dose of a one-dose vaccine (J&J). Proof will be required upon registration. Smith's Research & Gradings reserves the right to cancel any registration and deny event entry if vaccination proof is not provided. Accommodations will be made for attendees in accordance with the law and we will send you further details as they become available.
•Attendees must adhere to government-issued travel guidance and all applicable restrictions issued by the region to which they will be traveling, and the region from which they are traveling.
•Attendees shall evaluate their own health and that of people with whom they are in close contact within 14 days prior to the conference dates and should contact Smith’s Research & Gradings if they have any concerns.
•Attendees must STAY HOME if they feel ill, actively experience COVID-19 symptoms, or have been exposed to someone who has tested positive or presumed to be positive with COVID-19 within 14 days prior to the conference dates. In that case, they should contact Smith’s Research & Gradings to cancel their registration and receive a full refund.
On-Site During the Conference
•Smith's Research & Gradings is working with its venue partners to ensure compliance with local public health requirements. Our venue partners take pride in maintaining the highest standards of cleanliness and hygiene. Protocols include increased frequency with which public areas, guest rooms, and facilities are deep-cleaned and disinfected, using hospital-grade disinfectants.
•Hand sanitizer products will be available for attendee use throughout the conference space. Attendees are expected to use these available resources regularly and to practice everyday preventive actions to help prevent the spread of respiratory viruses.
The Hyatt Regency Greenwich
1800 E. Putnam Avenue
Old Greenwich, CT 06870
A block of rooms is being held for Smith's Research & Gradings at a rate of $189 per night until September 27, 2021.
Please follow the link below for reservations:
Reservations
Or, call the hotel directly at (203) 637-1234.
