Seated (L to R):
Robin Redford, MAC Vice Chair, Ramirez & Co., Inc.; Don Gonzales, MAC Chair, Estrada Hinojosa & Company, Inc.;
Mark McGruder, MAC Immediate Past Chair, BOK Financial Securities, Inc.
Standing (L to R):
Laura Lusk, MAC CFO; Rick Menchaca, UMB Bank; Ester Flores, Hilltop Securities Inc.; Randall Hawkins, Raymond James;
Chad Runnels, RBC Capital Markets; Stephen Eustis, Baird, Andrew Friedman, SAMCO Capital Markets, Inc.;
Shawnell Holman, Cabrera Capital Markets, LLC ; Laura Slaughter, MAC Executive Director
Mr. Gonzales is Senior Managing Director and Manager of the San Antonio office of Estrada Hinojosa & Company, Inc. and also serves on its Board of Directors. He is a Certified Public Accountant with over thirty years of financial consulting and investment banking experience serving governmental entities. He has been the Lead Banker in financings throughout Texas for cities, counties, housing finance corporations, schools (both higher education and public education), enterprise fund supported entities such as water, sewer, electric, gas and airport facilities, hospital districts, and mobility projects. Mr. Gonzales has represented and assisted numerous entities in the preparation of rating agency and insurance company presentations. His transportation financial advisory and underwriting experience includes Alamo RMA, Donna International Toll Bridge, San Antonio International Airport, VIA Metropolitan Transit Authority, Bexar County Rail District, Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority, Brazoria County Toll Road Authority, Hidalgo County Regional Mobility Authority, and Fort Bend Grand Parkway Toll Road Authority. Mr. Gonzales has testified before Congress as an expert witness as well as the predecessor agency of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) regarding utility system finance. He has completed more than $400 million of projects through the Texas Water Development Board, numerous single-family housing transactions and completed the first North American Development Bank (NADBank) bond transaction. In the last five years, he has completed municipal bond financings totaling more than $5 billion. Prior to his investment banking career, Mr. Gonzales worked in public accounting and was the Staff Director for the Texas School Performance Review for Texas State Comptroller John Sharp. While working in public accounting, he has performed tax and management consultant services for various accounting firms. Mr. Gonzales' 25+ years of public accounting experience with a concentration in taxation will be of significant value in assisting in the review and analysis of various types of financial and tax-related issues that may be contemplated. Locally, he has served as past Chairman of the Witte Museum Board of Trustees, St. George Episcopal School Board of Trustees and Chaired various committees on the San Antonio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. He is married and the father of two teenage daughters.
Robin Redford is a Senior Managing Director at Ramirez & Co., Inc., leading the Texas Group since joining the Firm in 2011. Robin also co-leads the Firm’s national Housing Finance team. Robin has more than 20 years of general markets and specialty underwriting experience beginning in New York City at her prior firms where she specialized in housing finance, including providing financial advisory services to the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs and the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency. Prior to entering the public finance field, she lived in Washington, D.C. and worked in the Urban Institute’s Housing Policy Center conducting field research and contributing to publications on a wide variety of topics including Community Development Corporations, non-profit parks organizations and public participation in the arts. Robin is active in, and a founding member of, the Texas Chapter of Women in Public Finance and past president of the Chapter. She is a former board member and executive officer of National Women in Public Finance and chair of its 2019 National Conference. She is a past recipient of the Women’s Bond Club of New York’s “Rising Star” award. Robin has been active in charitable organizations, serving on non-profit boards such as LifeTime Arts and Thomas Cole National Historic Site. Robin is originally from Austin, Texas and played college soccer and post-college select teams, and now continues her love of the sport coaching her sons’ soccer teams. Robin has a BA in both economics and history from Rice University, a Master of Public Affairs from the University of Texas at Austin and holds Series 7, 53 and 63 licenses.
Mark McGruder joined BOK Financial Securities, Inc.'s Texas Municipal Finance Team in March 2019, and is responsible for the daily management of the firm's municipal trading and underwriting activities. Prior to joining BOKFS, Mr. McGruder was a Senior Vice President for the Investment Banking division at UMB Bank, and previously served as Managing Director and Head of Municipal Syndication for Hilltop Securities Inc., where he served as the senior municipal underwriter for 14 years. Mr. McGruder has more than 26 years of industry experience. Mr. McGruder is a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority registered representative, currently holding Series 7, 52, 53 and 63 licenses.
Stephen Eustis joined Baird in January 2015 from RBC Capital Markets where he most recently was a senior public finance banker. He also worked as a financial analyst and support banker. He has assisted in the completion of more than 500 special district transactions during his career. Stephen focuses on Texas special districts including municipal utility districts, levee improvement districts, municipal management districts and improvement districts. He has provided financial advisory services to several master-planned communities including The Woodlands, Sienna, Springwoods Village, Clear Lake City Water Authority and Woodforest. Stephen holds a Bachelor of Science degree in finance from Trinity University. Mr. Eustis is registered with FINRA and holds the Series 7, Series 50, Series 53, Series 54 and Series 63 licenses.
Ester Flores is a Senior Vice President at Hilltop Securities Inc., based in Dallas. She has twelve years of experience providing investment banking and financial advisory services to municipal debt issuers throughout Texas, Colorado, Oklahoma, Mississippi and Kentucky. She joined Hilltop, formerly First Southwest Co. in 2009. She has helped structure and execute more than 240 transactions totaling par amount of approximately $25 billion for issuers including higher education institutions, state agencies and transportation authorities. In 2020 the Bond Buyer named Ms. Flores among its 2020 Rising Stars. The program honors municipal finance professionals under the age of 40 whose strong leadership and innovative thinking have improved their community and the public finance industry. She currently serves on the Texas Women in Public Finance Executive Council. She holds a B.B.A. in Finance with a minor in Spanish from University of North Texas and holds the Series 7, 50 and 63 licenses.
Andrew T. Friedman is a Senior Managing Director at SAMCO Capital Markets, Inc. focused on municipal advisory. He joined SAMCO on January 15, 2015. Mr. Friedman previously served at Southwest Securities, Inc., RBC Capital Markets and began his career in public finance at the Municipal Advisory Council of Texas. During his career at SAMCO he has served over 125 Cities, Schools and Utilities while advising on the issuance of 540 obligations totaling nearly $5,000,000,000. One transaction was selected by The Bond Buyer as “Deal of the Year – Southwest Region” for 2021. Andrew graduated from Texas Tech University with degrees in Finance and Accounting. Additionally, he maintains Series 7, Series 50, Series 63 and Series 79 licenses from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. Andrew, his wife, Ashley and their two daughters reside in San Antonio, Texas where they are active supporters of several charitable organizations.
Randall Hawkins is a Managing Director at Raymond James & Associates, Inc. While currently underwriting and trading municipal debt throughout the country from the Dallas office, Randall has placed a keen focus on Bank Qualified issuers in Texas. Within the last 13 years, his Bank Qualified group has competitively underwritten (mostly sole managed) over 2,300 transactions in municipal debt , with over 600 transactions of those issuers domiciled in Texas. After initially hired at Morgan Keegan in 2005 as an Institutional Portfolio Accountant, Randall became proficient on a wide variety of Fixed Income products. He later moved on to the firm's Asset/Liability group, specializing in depository financial sheet performance and interest rate shock analysis. Utilizing his experience with banks’ portfolio parameters and liquidity needs, Randall applied his knowledge and skillset to both negotiated and competitive new issue underwriting and secondary trading roles in 2008. He received his Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration in Finance from The University of Tennessee at Knoxville and his MBA from the University of Memphis. He currently holds Series 7 and 63 security licenses. Randall and his wife reside in the DFW metropolitan area with their 3 young children.
Shawnell Holman, Executive Director for the UBS Public Finance Department, focuses on municipal financings for issuers across the Southwest region. Ms. Holman has participated in the issuance of over $30 billion of municipal bonds. Prior to joining UBS in 2017, Ms. Holman served as Managing Director of Siebert Williams Shank's Houston office. Ms. Holman also enjoyed a long tenure in the City of Houston Controller's Office, managing the City's multi- billion debt and investment portfolios for nearly a decade. She holds the following industry licenses: Municipal Securities Representative (Series 52), Municipal Securities Principal (Series 53), Municipal Advisor (Series 50) and Uniform State Law (Series 63). A native Houstonian, Ms. Holman earned a BA in Economics and English from Rice University and an MBA from the University of Houston at Victoria. In addition to serving as the President of the Texas chapter of the National Association of Securities Professionals (NASP) from 2012-2017, Ms. Holman is a Leadership Houston alum (Class 35), and currently chairs the Mentoring Committee for Women in Public Finance-(Texas chapter). An active community participant, she previously served on the boards of Project Rowhouse, an arts and life enrichment outreach effort, and Row House Community Development Corporation, an organization focused on providing affordable housing. A lifelong lover of the arts, Ms. Holman currently serves as a Board Advisor for the Theater Under the Stars (TUTS).
Rick Menchaca joined UMB Bank, n.a. Capital Markets Division in 2019 as a Senior Vice President and Manager of the Texas Region's Public Finance Group. Rick has been in public finance since 2011, after having a 22-year career in city management as the City Manager in the cities of San Marcos and Midland, Texas. In the past 13 years, he has been involved in over 475 bond transactions with over $23 billion in par value. Rick was also a trustee on the Texas Municipal Retirement System Board for 13 years. He has a Master of Public Administration from Texas Tech University and holds FINRA Series 52, 53 and 63 licenses.
Chad Runnels is Director at RBC Capital Markets. A 17-year veteran of the municipal bond industry, Mr. Runnels is primarily responsible for origination, distribution and trading of fixed income municipal securities on both a taxable and tax-exempt basis. He has served as lead underwriter on more than 1,500 transactions totaling more than $50 billion in various interest rate environments and sectors including school districts, cities, counties, state agencies, municipal utility districts, utility systems, higher education systems and transportation agencies via negotiated and competitive sales. Mr. Runnels is responsible for underwriting activities in many of RBC’s core southwest states including Texas, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona. His coordination of these efforts allows him to be involved in all senior and co-managed transactions originated from RBC’s Dallas underwriting desk. A lifelong Texas resident, Mr. Runnels holds a BBA in Finance from Texas Tech University and is a FINRA registered securities representative, currently holding series 7, 52, 53, 66 and 79 licenses. Chad and his wife reside in Dallas with their three children.
Year | Name | Company | Photo |
---|---|---|---|
2023 | Donald Gonzales | Estrada Hinojosa & Company, Inc. | |
2022 | Mark McGruder | BOK Financial Securities, Inc. | |
2021 | Danielle Bradford | Piper Sandler & Co. | |
2020 | Mark Nitcholas | Baird | |
2019 | Mario Carrasco | Citigroup Global Markets Inc. | |
2018 | Chris Allen | RBC Capital Markets | |
2017 | Jorge Rodriguez | FTN Financial | |
2016 | Laura Powell | Wells Fargo Securities | |
2015 | Tilghman Naylor | Jefferies LLC | |
2014 | George Williford | First Southwest Company | |
2013 | Matthew Boles | RBC Capital Markets | |
2012 | Ron Caloss | Raymond James | Morgan Keegan | |
2011 | Thomas (Tom) Nolan, III | Estrada Hinojosa | |
2010 | Anne Burger Entrekin | First Southwest Company | |
2009 | Duncan L. Lamme | RBC Capital Markets | |
2008 | Douglas A. Whitt | Southwest Securities | |
2007 | Duane L. Westerman | SAMCO Capital Markets | |
2006 | Drew K. Masterson | First Southwest Company | |
2005 | Gary Machak | RBC Dain Rauscher | |
2004 | Mark McLiney | Southwest Securities | |
2003 | David Holland | Coastal Securities, Inc. | |
2002 | David Medanich | First Southwest Company | |
2001 | Robert Estrada | Estrada Hinojosa & Company, Inc. | |
2000 | Jodie L. Jiles | Bear Stearns & Company, Inc. | |
1999 | Richard Ramirez | Chase Securities of Texas, Inc. | |
1998 | George Janning | First Southwest Company | |
1997 | Vincent A. Matrone | Goldman, Sachs & Company | |
1996 | Gary Utkov | Principal Financial Management, Inc. | |
1995 | Stephen A. Claiborn | Lehman Brothers | |
1994 | Stephen J. Young | Dean Witter Reynolds, Inc. | |
1993 | Bob Vanosky | Rauscher Pierce | |
1992 | Jack Addams | Merrill Lynch | |
1991 | Leon Johnson | First Southwest Company | |
1990 | Ross A. Moring | Bank One | |
1989 | Lawrence R. Catuzzi | Underwood, Neuhaus | |
1988 | Jim Gilley | First Southwest Company | |
1987 | Ira Green | Westcap Securities | |
1986 | Thomas Anderlitch | Rauscher Pierce Refsnes, Inc. | |
1985 | Bob Jones | First City National Bank | |
1984 | Lewis W. Pollok, III | Texas American Bank | |
1983 | Delton Bennett, Jr. | PaineWebber | |
1982 | John J. Fosdick | Greer Moreland Fosdick Shep | |
1981 | Fred L. Baker | Kidder, Peabody | |
1980 | W. Roy Tucker, Jr. | Underwood, Neuhaus | |
1979 | Milton Halpern | Rauscher Pierce Refsnes, Inc. | |
1978 | John W. Brandenberger | E.F. Hutton | |
1977 | Samuel E. Maclin | Russ Securities Corp. | |
1976 | John M. Greer | Greer Moreland Fosdick, Inc. | |
1975 | John B. Clayton, III | First National Bank in Dallas | |
1974 | Thomas W. Masterson | Underwood, Neuhaus & Co., Inc. | |
1973 | William A. Beinhorn, Jr. | Russ Securities Corp. | |
1972 | Joe W. Ellis | First Southwest Company | |
1971 | Charles L. Wood | Rowles, Winston & Co., Inc. | |
1970 | W. A. Jeffers | Dittmar & Co., Inc. | |
1969 | John S. Davis | Republic National Bank of Dallas | |
1968 | S. David Arnspiger | Rowles, Winston & Co., Inc. | |
1967 | George C. Mead | Dittmar & Co., Inc. | |
1966 | Ted R. Alexander | Texas Bank & Trust Company of Dallas | |
1965 | Wilbur H. Frederking | Fridley & Frederking | |
1964 | Arnold J. Kocurek | Rauscher, Pierce & Co., Inc. | |
1963 | Paul W. Utley | Goodbody & Co. | |
1962 | Jack C. Payne | Dallas Union Securities Co. Inc. | |
1961 | R. N. Eddleman | Eddleman, Pollok & Fosdick, Inc. | |
1960 | E. S. Emerson | Emerson & Company | |
1959 | Taylor B. Almon | Rauscher, Pierce & Co., Inc. | |
1958 | Lewis W. Pollok, Jr. | Eddleman-Pollok Co. | |
1957 | William F. Parvin | Austin, Hart & Parvin | |
1956 | W. C. Jackson, Jr. | First Southwest Company | |
1955 | W. E. Knickerbocker | McClung & Knickerbocker | |
1954 | W. Travis Sykes | Dewar, Robertson & Pancoast |