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Public Finance
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Bill Hogan
Senior Managing Director
(212) 408-6006
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John Trahan
Managing Director
(212) 408-6023
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Michael Bartsch
Director
(212) 408-6071
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James Binette
Director
(212) 408-6005
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Randall Gerardes
Vice President
(212) 408-6019
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Leornard Lasek
Assistant Vice President
(212) 408-6078
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Alexis Platus
Associate
(212) 261-5550
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Suzanne Nasser
Associate
(212) 408-6060
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Mary Francoeur
Managing Director
(212) 408-6051
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Mike Quinn
Director
(212) 261-5551
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John Wells
Director
(212) 408-6025
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Leigh Schaffer, CFA
Vice President
(212) 261-5574
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Joseph Chu
Director
(212) 261-5588
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Rich Cassata
Managing Director
(212) 408-6067
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Judy Ramirez
Associate
(212) 261-5567
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Michael Walker
Director
(212) 261-5575
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Assured Guaranty Corp. provides a full range of triple-A credit enhancement products for the municipal bond marketplace, including:
- Primary and secondary market bond insurance policies covering principal and interest
- Surety policies that take the place of cash-funded reserves
- Specialized financial guaranty policies, such as swap sureties guaranteeing an issuer’s obligations under a swap agreement with a broker-dealer
The Public Finance team at Assured Guaranty is focused on providing superior customer service. Our team structure makes it easy to determine which analyst can best assist a prospective customer.
Our analysts have the credit skills and business knowledge to give you answers regarding the:
- Insurability of a transaction: We can discuss key credit characteristics by phone and provide general feedback.
- General legal terms and conditions: Based on the sector and credit rating, we can provide guidance regarding key terms and conditions.
- Pricing parameters: We track pricing by sector and rating so we can quickly provide a pricing range during our initial discussions.
If the transaction is insurable, every effort is made to meet the transaction schedule. Legal conditions are discussed in detail upfront – often through the use of term sheets – to ensure that all parties are comfortable with the terms and conditions that will be required by the Assured Guaranty credit committee. All aspects of the legal process – from formal commitment through closing – are managed by an in-house legal team that includes a dedicated Public Finance attorney and closing coordinator. For a current list of transactions, see the “Downloads” section located at the top of this page.
The firm has established a sizable and growing buyer base that includes many of the largest institutional investors. Broker-dealers focused on retail distribution can take comfort from the excellent results other firms have had distributing Assured Guaranty-insured bonds to their retail clients.
Our desk is staffed by seasoned professionals with years of experience in the public finance markets. We who work on our secondary market desk, are available to provide quotes for secondary market insurance for the following:
- “Pre-approved” names – Assured Guaranty's capacity is approved and available immediately. Credits include the largest issuers and most-widely held bonds in the municipal market.
- Specific requests – we are pleased to review transactions that are not currently on the pre-approved list.
In the primary market, the Public Finance team is active in all general government sectors as well as healthcare, private higher education, domestic project finance, and investor-owned utilities. Transactions must be investment grade for Assured Guaranty to insure them.
We may require one or more rating agency internal credit assessments for transactions that do not carry public underlying ratings. A public rating is not necessary. Transactions with low investment grade characteristics are candidates for Assured Guaranty bond insurance, but we will evaluate each situation individually.
General Government: Assured Guaranty does not have rigid “preset” credit criteria for general government transactions. We do not specify a minimum customer base for utility transactions or a minimum population size for general obligation transactions. Our analysts work with the transaction financial advisor or banker to understand the full credit picture rather than focusing on one arbitrary statistic.
Sectors and security structures include:
- General obligation, unlimited and limited tax
- Special taxes, such as sales and income tax
- Tax allocation and tax increment-secured transactions
- Water/sewer revenue bonds
- Transportation-related revenue bonds, including airports, toll roads, bridges, and parking
Healthcare: Assured Guaranty is committed to providing bond insurance in the not-for-profit healthcare sector.
Our healthcare team has developed standard legal terms and conditions based on rating category. The terms and conditions are not applied in an arbitrary manner; rather, they provide flexibility to tailor the legal structure to the particular credit characteristics of the hospital.
Assured Guaranty has provided credit enhancement for hospital transactions in the Variable Rate Demand Obligation (VRDO) and Auction Rate Securities (ARS) markets, as well as the fixed-rate market. Reset rates for all variable rate transactions are tracked and can be provided upon request. Assured Guaranty has been approved by most of the largest liquidity providers in the VRDO market.
Private Higher and Primary/Secondary Education: Bonds issued by private colleges are candidates for Assured Guaranty credit enhancement. Our analysts have established a track record of working with advisors and bankers to structure creative and flexible terms and conditions for these issuers.
Similar to the healthcare sector, Assured Guaranty does not apply specific rating “cutoffs” to the private education sector. We are active in the BBB rating category as well as the “A” or better category. Many of the Assured Guaranty transactions in the education sector have been issued in a variable rate mode.
Domestic Project Finance and Investor-Owned Utilities: Assured Guaranty’s Domestic Project Finance team has experience in a broad range of transaction types, including privatized toll roads, electric generation plants, waste-to-energy facilities and environmental projects. As public private partnership transactions continue to grow in the U.S. market, Assured Guaranty is committed to timely and responsive service in this expanding sector.
Our focus in the Investor-owned utility sector concentrates on investment-grade electric and water companies.
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