City of Chicago Finances
Rachel Cortez, Matt Fabian, and Laurence Msall
Tuesday, May 19, 2015
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Speakers
Rachel Cortez
Rachel Cortez is a Vice President with the US Public Finance Group of Moody’s Investors Service. As Co-Manager of Moody’s Chicago office, Rachel oversees local government credits in multiple Midwest states, including Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, and Wisconsin. During her ten years with Moody’s, Rachel has covered hundreds of tax-backed and revenue-secured credits issued by US local governments and not-for-profit health care organizations. Among the credits for which she has served as lead analyst are the cities of Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, and St. Louis. Prior to joining Moody’s in 2005, Rachel spent five years with American Management Systems (now CGI Group), where she implemented budget and financial management systems for states, cities, counties, school districts, and public transportation authorities. Rachel was also a Medicaid Budget Analyst with the State of Illinois Bureau of the Budget (now Office of Management and Budget) in Springfield, and she spent several years working in development and fundraising for a Chicago-based not-for-profit organization. Rachel is a former President of the Chicago Municipal Analysts Society (CMAS). She served four years on the CMAS Board of Directors and served four years on the Board of Governors of the National Federation of Municipal Analysts (NFMA). Rachel received a Master of Public Administration (MPA) degree from the Maxwell School of Syracuse University and a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Government from Cornell University.
Matt Fabian
Matt Fabian is a Partner at Municipal Market Analytics (MMA) where he leads market and credit research. Mr. Fabian is the lead contributor to MMA weekly Outlook and biweekly Default Trends. His expansive knowledge of the idiosyncratic characteristics of the municipal market has made him one of the primary voices of the industry. Prior to joining MMA in 2015, Mr. Fabian served in a similar capacity at Municipal Market Advisors since 2006. Prior to his current position, Mr. Fabian was the lead municipal research analyst for UBS and UBS Wealth Management Research. Earlier in his career he was an underwriting analyst at FSA, and a municipal rating analyst with Moody’s Investors Service. Mr. Fabian has served as chairman of the Municipal Analysts Group of New York (MAGNY) and was on the Board of Governors of the National Federation of Municipal Analysts (NFMA). He is routinely a featured speaker at numerous industry conferences on a wide range of topics, including investment strategy, demographic trends, bond insurance, tax reform, derivatives, defaults, state governments, and municipal credit. Mr. Fabian’s efforts in municipal default analysis led to the creation of MMA’s Credit Impairment Database, the most complete resource of troubled issuers in the industry. Mr. Fabian has an undergraduate degree from Penn State University, and a Masters of Public Administration from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University.
Laurence Msall
Laurence Msall is the President of the Civic Federation, a nonpartisan government research organization. Before joining in 2002, Msall was the Senior Advisor for Economic Development and Infrastructure for Illinois Governor George H. Ryan and worked on issues related to business climate, tax, and transportation policy. Before joining the Governor’s staff in 1999, Msall served as the Vice President of the Commercial Club of Chicago, as well as Secretary to the Commercial Club Foundation and Vice President of the Civic Committee. Prior to joining the Commercial Club staff in 1990, Msall served as Assistant to the Director of the Illinois Department of Commerce and Community Affairs with primary responsibility for policy development. From 1984-1988, Msall represented the Department and Governor Jim Thompson’s office on economic development and business issues before the Illinois General Assembly, serving as DCCA’s chief legislative liaison. Laurence Msall is a licensed attorney and 1992 graduate of Loyola University School of Law, Evening Division. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Knox College and is a graduate of Saint Ignatius College Preparatory High School. Msall is a member of the Woods Fund Board of Directors, Oak Park River Forest High School Scholarship Foundation, Illinois Issues Magazine, Chicago’s Civic Consulting Alliance, the Advisory Board of the University of Illinois Institute of Government and Public Affairs, and the St. Giles Appalachia Service Project.
