Joe joined John Muir Health System in October 2022 as Director of Investment and Capital Structure. Prior to joining John Muir, Joe led the healthcare team as a Senior Analyst at Vanguard. Before joining Vanguard Joe was at SMBC from 1989-2005, as an analyst in the public finance, project finance and bankruptcy/workout departments. Joe began his career at Moody’s Investments from 1986-1989 in the public finance department.  Joe graduated with a BA in math from Yeshiva University in 1986.

Since 1858, Fifth Third Bank has been helping individuals, families, businesses and communities grow through smart financial services that improve lives. Our list of firsts is extensive, and it’s one that continues to expand as we explore the intersection of tech-driven innovation, dedicated people and focused community impact. Fifth Third supports public entities across California through its 84-branch network statewide. Our Government & Institutions professionals can provide insights and competitive banking products to municipalities, higher education institutions, and nonprofits. Decision-makers in the Public Finance market will benefit from our experience in providing specialized financial services.

Jeff has been a municipal securities credit analyst and market strategist for over 25 years, with expertise extending to all sectors of the public finance ecosystem. During this time, Jeff has held leadership positions across sell-side and buy-side organizations. In his current role at The Bond Buyer, Jeff developed and launched the firm’s municipal market intelligence platform. 
 
Jeff provides thought leadership and subject matter expertise, offering actionable guidance to The Bond Buyer’s stakeholder communities, including legal counsel, municipal advisors, issuers, underwriters and institutional investors. In this position, Jeff often moderates topical panels and presents to various industry organizations.
 
Prior to joining The Bond Buyer, Jeff was a Managing Director and head of Oppenheimer & Co.’s municipal research and strategy effort. Before Oppenheimer, Jeff worked as a Senior Municipal Analyst in a major insurance company’s investment division and served as the Director of Municipal Research at two buy-side investment management firms. At these firms, Jeff provided in-depth municipal credit analysis and strategic guidance for managing capital and risk exposure. 
 
Jeff holds a B.S. in Business Administration with a concentration in Finance from the University of Delaware. He is a member of the Municipal Analysts Group of New York and the National Federation of Municipal Analysts. Jeff maintains FINRA Series 7, 63, 50, 52, and 53 licenses and has received industry awards.

Hal Kotowsky is the Acting Director of Capital Finance at San Francisco International Airport (SFO). He oversees SFO’s $11 billion debt portfolio, $600 million commercial paper program, and the capital markets and grants strategy behind its $12.5 billion Capital Improvement Plan. Since joining SFO in 2023, he has directed $4.8 billion of public bond issuance.

Hal brings more than 20 years of institutional finance experience spanning public infrastructure finance, structured credit, and portfolio management. Prior to joining SFO, he held senior roles at Wells Fargo Bank, where he was Co-Head of Structured Products, and at KKR Financial, where he led the firm’s real estate securities and loan investment platform. He began his career in investment banking at Merrill Lynch & Co.

He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley.

Jason Spotts is the Security and Emergency Management Program Manager for the State Water Board’s Division of Drinking Water (DDW). He applies strategic operations to coordinate with local, state, and federal emergency management partners across the state to support locals after natural disasters or security incidents. Jason currently represents the State Water Board in local, state, and national committees and work groups to address issues pertaining to public water system security, emergency response, and recovery. Prior to working for DDW, he worked at the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services where he was selected to lead work groups and task forces to help locals respond to and recover from the Camp Fire and the earthquake swarms in Puerto Rico. Prior to that, he served in the U.S. Navy’s Civil Engineer Corps for six years, making deployments to Afghanistan and the Pacific. He managed numerous construction contracts valued over $100M. Jason is a registered civil engineer and holds an MBA from Syracuse University and a bachelor’s in civil engineering from Chico State.

Michael Burger is a Director on Fitch Ratings’ U.S. Not-for-Profit Hospitals Team, based in San Francisco, CA. With 20 years of municipal  finance industry experience, Michael focuses on borrowers in healthcare, non-profit 501(c)(3), and senior living sectors. He first joined  Fitch in 2006, rejoined in 2022, and has been with the company for 13 years in total. Michael has authored various research pieces and  special reports and has represented Fitch at conferences, teleconferences and industry seminars. 

Before rejoining Fitch, Michael was a Senior Analyst for the City of San Jose’s Debt and Treasury team, contributing to the City’s various debt financing projects. He also worked as an investment banker and municipal financial advisor at Prager & Co, advising higher  education, non-profit, and healthcare clients. Before working at Prager, Michael was a Senior Vice President at Wells Fargo Bank and  served as the Western Division Credit Team Lead in the Education & Nonprofit Banking group, overseeing a $4 billion loan portfolio. 

Michael holds a B.A. in Journalism and Political Science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an M.P.A. and M.A. in  International Relations from Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. He is a member of the National  Federation of Municipal Analysts and the California Society of Municipal Analysts.

Flagstar Bank, N.A. is one of the largest regional banks in the country. The Bank operates approximately 320 retail locations and 20 Private Banking Offices across nine states, with strong footholds in the greater New York/New Jersey metropolitan region and in the upper Midwest, along with a significant presence in fast-growing markets in Florida and the West Coast. 

Ms. Quan serves as bond counsel, disclosure counsel and underwriter’s counsel on a wide array of debt obligations undertaken by issuers large and small, with an emphasis on housing, education, water and general fund financings.

Ms. Quan participates in a variety of housing-related financings, including serving as bond counsel to a county development authority in connection with its issuance of multifamily housing mortgage revenue bonds and the preparation of various interlocal agreements involving projects with multiple jurisdictional interests, and serving as bond counsel to a housing authority that issues bonds on its own behalf to finance government-owned multifamily housing.

Ms. Quan also advises general obligation bond issuers, including cities, water districts, school districts and community college districts, and has served as underwriters’ counsel on numerous general obligation bond issuances, including issuances by the State of California and issuances that were additionally secured by other available moneys of the issuer (i.e., double-barreled bonds).

Ms. Quan’s extensive work in general fund financings includes serving as bond counsel on an issuance whose proceeds were used in a novel public-private partnership context to finance a public administration building and disclosure counsel on an issuance to finance a large area hospital.

In addition, Ms. Quan participated in the representation of the State of California’s Water Resource Control Board in the development of the California Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Programs to provide financial assistance to local governments for clean water and safe drinking water projects, and continues to serve as bond counsel for the program.

Ms. Quan has also participated in numerous water financings, wastewater financings, transportation financings, revenue bond financings, lease revenue bond financings, certificate of participation financings, private placements, assessment district financings, tobacco settlement securitization financings, housing financings, state revolving fund financings, pooled financings, cash flow financings, commercial paper financings, tax allocation bond financings and conduit financings for 501(c)(3) borrowers.  Ms. Quan is a member of the California State Bar, the American Bar Association and the National Association of Bond Lawyers.