The National Federation of Municipal Analysts has named Mark Capell, managing vice president of public finance for Build America Mutual’s West Region as its president for the 2023 year.

The first bond insurer to serve as president of NFMA since Bill Hogan of Assured Guaranty’s 2009 term, Capell believes his experience in bond insurance gives him a unique perspective to take the organization forward.

“At Build America Mutual, we have a little bit of a different and longer-term view of municipal bonds,” Capell said. “We look all the way through the resolution and the term of transaction so we’re effectively married to the bonds from the time we insure until they’re fully amortized,” he added. “That long term view that we take when we underwrite a transaction is, I think, unique to the industry.”

Taking the reins with the pandemic behind us, Capell is beginning his term focused on this year’s slate of events, which includes NFMA’s 2023 Annual Conference, taking place in Orland, Florida on May 16-19.

“I think one lesson that we learned during the pandemic is that providing virtual meetings and conferences is possible, but certainly not what everybody needs over the long term to fully develop both personally and professionally,” Capell said.  “And one of my main focuses for the calendar year 2023, is to get us back on track and provide as much meaningful content and as many in person networking opportunities as we possibly can.”

“My hope is to bring the NFMA into the 21st century by providing more digital and social media content to drive in person attendance at our events,” Capell said.

Capell began his career at Fitch Ratings, working as director from 1998 to 2004 before switching to another bond insurer, Financial Security Assurance, where he stayed on during its losses in the subprime mortgage crisis of 2008 and its eventual sale to Assured Guaranty in 2009. He then joined Build America Mutual when it sprang up in 2012 and has been with the firm ever since. 

Aside from his day job, he also served as a board member and chair of the California Society of Municipal Analysts from 2012 to 2016 and currently serves as a board member for the San Francisco Municipal Bond Club as well as a board member for the Tiburon Fire Protection District.

He earned his B.A in political science from the University of California, Davis and his MPA in Government and Government Finance from the University of Southern California.