History

Municipal Market Analytics (MMA) is an independent research firm based in Concord, Massachusetts, founded in 1995.  MMA’s core business is to provide strategic market and credit analysis and commentary on current, historical and quantitative conditions of the US municipal sector.  In 2012, MMA introduced the Portfolio Credit Benchmark (PCB), an enterprise risk solution for bank portfolios to meet their regulatory needs pertaining to the credit review of municipal bonds.   Also in 2012, MMA established its professional consulting division that provides independent analysis on important municipal issues.  The division’s projects have involved municipal risk and liquidity management, credit risk assessments and default/loss modeling.  

MMA’s clients include nearly every leading investment firm, bank, security dealer, and financial advisor.  In addition,  the industry’s major issuers and key regulators of the financial industry are the firm’s core research clients.  MMA’s customers also include the Securities Exchange Commission, Federal Reserve Banks of New York, Atlanta, Cleveland and Boston, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, DTCC, SEIU and Pew Foundation.  MMA also maintains relationships with staff members in Washington DC at many key organizations and of Congressional leaders involved in varying aspects of the financial industry and policy-making. 

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MMA’s clients include nearly every leading investment firm, bank, security dealer, and financial advisor.

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CHIEF CREDIT OFFICER AND Managing Director

Lisa Washburn

Ms. Washburn is a Managing Director for Municipal Market Analytics.  At MMA,  she leads the firm’s consulting practice. In addition, Ms. Washburn maintains MMA’s credit impairment database and is a regular contributor to the firm’s weekly Outlook and biweekly Default Trends publications. Prior to 2015, she held a similar position at Municipal Market Advisors.  Ms. Washburn also heads the credit surveillance bank business of MMA, where she has been responsible for the review of bank investment portfolio’s municipal holdings since 2012 utilizing MMA’s Portfolio Credit Benchmark, which she and Mr. Fabian created. 

Prior to her position at MMA, Ms. Washburn was at Moody’s Investors Service for 20 years. From 2005 through 2011, she was a Managing Director in the Public Finance Group. During her tenure at Moody’s, Ms. Washburn managed several ratings teams including: Southwest Local Governments, Housing and State Revolving Funds, and Municipal Structured Products. She was a member of several senior level credit policy committees including Public Finance, Structured Finance and Public, Project and Infrastructure Finance. Additionally, Ms. Washburn led several the company’s high profile initiatives related to municipal bond default analysis and ratings comparability, including the 2010 Municipal Rating Recalibration and the rating agency’s first published municipal default study. She utilized her analytical and project management skills to work alongside Product Strategy to develop and launch the first generation of Moody’s Municipal Financial Ratio Analysis product (MFRA).

Ms. Washburn has been a member of the Board of Governors of the NFMA since 2008, where she served as Chair in 2016, leading the industry’s efforts for improved issuer financial disclosure. She has also served as a member of the organization’s Executive Board, Co-Chair of the Industry Practices Committee and an active member of the Education Committee. Ms. Washburn is also a member of MAGNY.

Ms. Washburn has an undergraduate degree from Lehigh University. 

Managing Director, Business Development

Nicholas Sourbis

Mr. Sourbis is Managing Director at Municipal Markets Analytics (MMA) where he is coordinating the team’s marketing and business development activities and participating in its bank portfolio reviews.

Prior to joining MMA, Mr. Sourbis was Managing Director and Head of Fixed-Income Investor Relations for National Public Finance Guarantee (“National”), MBIA Insurance Corporation’s (“MBIA”) U.S. public finance bond insurance operation.   Prior to joining the National management team, Mr. Sourbis held various roles at MBIA including head of the Global Transportation and Infrastructure Group, head of the Enterprise Finance Department and leader of MBIA’s Consumer Asset-Backed Department in the firm’s Structured Finance Division.

Before joining MBIA, Nick spent over six years with Swiss Bank Corporation in both New York and London where he was responsible for the origination and structuring of asset-backed transactions.

Mr. Sourbis is a member of the Municipal Analysts Group of New York and has spoken at various industry conferences over the years covering a range of topics including municipal market themes and dynamics, credit and structural issues facing issuers and investors, infrastructure financing as well as different securitization topics.

Nick received his Bachelors of Arts in International Relations from Tufts University and a Masters in Business Administration from New York University’s Stern School of Business.

MANAGING Director, Business Development and Senior Analyst

Tripp Kaiser, CFA

Tripp Kaiser joined Municipal Market Analytics (MMA), in May, 2012, and is responsible for the daily production of MMA’s Strategist report and triple-A benchmark, is a regular contributor to many of the firms other publications, spurs specific research and consulting projects most recently related to trading, default recoveries and transportation, built and manages MMA’s advertising business, and assists in the execution of the firm’s business development efforts. He regularly presents the dynamics of the municipal market to the firm’s client base and the industry, and helps define and execute the firms’ growth strategy. He is based in Austin TX. Prior to joining MMA, Tripp worked for Bloomberg, JP Morgan and Dillon Read Capital Management, all in fixed income strategy, analyst, operations and sales roles in New York.  

Tripp received his Bachelors of Business Administration from The George Washington University, completed the Data Analytics program at the University of Texas, is a Chartered Financial Analyst® (CFA®) and member of the CFA Society of Austin, TX.

Vice President

Kevin McGuigan, CFA

Kevin McGuigan joined Municipal Market Analytics (MMA) as an Analyst in February 2014 to focus on the production of MMA’s intraday market report.  Prior to joining MMA, he completed two internships in the public finance department of Fitch Ratings in New York, NY.

As the lead author of Insight, Mr. McGuigan closely monitors municipal new issue pricing and secondary market trading to provide forward looking observations on the day’s activity. Direct communication with industry professionals has enabled Mr. McGuigan to analyze participant behavioral tactics and generate an accurate interpretation of market data and dynamics. He has also worked towards expanding MMA’s extensive database, while generating new ways to gather and analyze municipal market data.  Mr. McGuigan played an integral role in the creation of MMA’s MCI (municipal condition index), which is featured in Insight every Monday.

Since beginning his career at MMA, Kevin has worked to build and maintain relationships with members of the municipal bond community. Kevin joined Muni Toppers NYC in 2014, a networking organization with a rich history within the municipal bond community. Kevin was named to the Board of Directors in November 2015, and served as Treasurer.

Kevin graduated from Lafayette College in 2013 with a bachelor’s degree in Economics and is a Chartered Financial Analyst® (CFA®).

SENIOR FELLOW

Chris Hamel

Mr. Hamel joined Municipal Market Analytics, Inc. (MMA) in 2019 as its first Senior Fellow.  In this role, he contributes to MMA’s publications to provide insight and vision to the challenges facing municipal infrastructure needs and their financings.  In addition, Mr. Hamel interfaces with industry leaders and associations, elected officials and regulators to advance executable ideas as solutions to US infrastructure requirements.

Prior to joining MMA, Mr. Hamel served as Managing Director and Head of the Municipal Finance Group at RBC Capital Markets. In this role, RBC’s municipal business evolved into a consistent top-five market leader and one of the largest municipal practices in the country, with operations based in New York and bankers in 27 cities across the U.S.

During his career, Mr. Hamel has been actively involved in the municipal finance community including as a member of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA), the leading industry trade group representing securities firms, banks and asset managers in the U.S. He has served as Chair of SIFMA’s Infrastructure Policy Committee, and as Chair of the SIFMA Municipal Executive Committee.

Mr. Hamel, as a leading voice in the industry, has been a frequent presenter and speaker at various events across the country, as well as a regular contributor on key infrastructure policy issues, with numerous articles published in The Bond Buyer, Crain’s New York, and Governing Daily.

Mr. Hamel also led RBC’s publishing efforts on several studies related to U.S. infrastructure finance and policy, including Unlocking Value From Public Assets – Leveraging Private Sector Expertise to Generate New Public Benefits (2017), The Role of Design-Build Procurement (2015), and Caution Ahead: Overdue Investments for New York’s Aging Infrastructure (2014).

In 2013 Mr. Hamel was named to the SIFMA Municipal Division Honor Roll for his success in building a top municipal department, along with recognition of his career of industry contribution.

Prior to entering municipal finance, Mr. Hamel was a senior assistant to then-Governor Bruce Babbitt of Arizona. Chris received a bachelor’s degree from Occidental College in Los Angeles, California.