10th Annual National Fixed Income Conference

Recap

Thank you to all attendees, sponsors, and exhibitors for helping to make our 10th Annual National Fixed Income Conference our strongest yet! 

A detailed summary of our conference is below. Please reach out with any questions or comments. We need your feedback to ensure we continue building a tangibly beneficial conference with the right topics and speakers -- all focused on the U.S. fixed income markets.

On October 25th & 26th, the BDA held its 10th Annual National Fixed Income Conference at the Four Seasons Hotel in Washington, D.C.

Key highlights from the event include:

• Over 200 attendees - fixed income leadership representing all aspects of the markets
• Over 75 firms represented from coast-to-coast
• Over 15 exhibitors and sponsors whose support helped to make this event possible
• An opening night reception at Eno Wine Bar sponsored by Hilltop Securities

Conference Sessions - October 25th

Keynote Address:

Lessons in Leadership

Keynote Speaker: Retired General Stanley McChrystal, Founder, The McChrystal Group

The 10th Annual National Fixed Income Conference began with a keynote address featuring retired U.S. Army Four-Star General Stanley McChrystal.  The General's inspiring discussion tied his experiences in leading U.S. troops abroad to ways that business leaders can grow a stronger team and work to make the changes needed to grow a successful organization. This included the idea of being a "disruptor," the theme for this year's National Fixed Income Conference.

A Discussion with former SEC Commissioner Paul Atkins

Moderator: Andrew Southerling, Partner, Morgan Lewis

Panelist: Paul Atkins, CEO, Potomak Global Partners

Moderator Andrew Southerling engaged former SEC Commissioner Paul Atkins on the current leadership at the SEC, current and future regulatory reform efforts on the Hill, the SEC's look at fiduciary duty and the SEC’s Fixed Income Market Structure Advisory Committee.

The Evolution of Markets and the Future of Electronic Trading

Moderator: Brad Winges, Managing Director and Head of Fixed Income Services, Piper Jaffray

Panelist: Lee Olesky, Co-Founder and CEO, Tradeweb Markets

This fireside chat, moderated by BDA Board Member Brad Winges, discussed the impacts of electronic trading advances in the markets and the impact this will have on spreads, transparency and liquidity.

This discussion was highlighted in a BondBuyer article, which can be viewed here.

Market Structure, Disruptors and Opportunities

Moderator: Kevin McPartland, Principal of Market Structure & Technology Research, Greenwich Associates

Panelists:

• Steve Genyk, Managing Director, Head of Municipal Trading, WMA Capital Markets, UBS
• Richard Schiffman, Open Trading Product Manager, MarketAxess
• Alex Sedgwick, Head of Market Structure, T. Rowe Price
• Martin Mannion, President, Headlands Tech Global Markets

This panel discussed evolving market structure, technology, regulation, business opportunities and challenges facing middle-market and regional sell-side dealers. You can view Greenwich Associates presentation here.

D.C. Outlook: How will the 2018 Elections Shape Focus on the U.S. Capital Markets?

Moderator: Colin Wilhelm, Economic Policy Reporter, Washington Examiner

Panelists:

• Andrew Rothe, Senior Legislative Assistant, U.S. Senator Mike Rounds (R-SD)
• Jared Roscoe, Senior Banking Counsel, U.S. Senator Mark Warner (D-VA)

Andrew Rothe and Jared Roscoe discussed the outlook on Capitol Hill beyond the upcoming elections into early 2019.  Policy topics included the future of GSE reform, Tax 2.0, infrastructure and the inclusion of PABs and advance refundings in any legislative package.

U.S. Municipal Finance - Opportunities Amid Disruption

Moderator: Dan Deaton, Partner, Nixon Peabody

Panelists:

• David Medanich, Vice Chairman and Head of Public Finance, Hilltop Securities
• Steve Heaney, Head of Public Finance, Stifel Financial Corporation
• Scott Richbourg, Head of Public Finance, Build America Mutual
• Homero Radway, Managing Director & Head of Underwriting and Trading, Neighborly

This discussion centered around the challenges faced in the municipal markets over the past year - including volume, the loss of advance refundings, changes to the bank loan market via tax reform, and regulatory changes such as retail mark-updisclosures. The panel also discussed future trends to look out for in 2019, including the financial condition of municipalities and regulatory changes to 15c2-12. The discussion also mentioned opportunities for new transactional structures like blockchain technologies and other technological trends, as well as weighing the pros and cons of the American and European P3 models.

Automation of the Trading Workflow

Moderator: Chris White, CEO, ViableMkts

Panelists

• Richard Colucci, Global Head of Sales and Head of Analytics, Algomi
• Dominic Holland, Head of Fixed Income Electric Markets, BNY Mellon

During this panel, ViableMkts CEO Chris White let a discussion that being with asking how are firms adapting to margin pressures by becoming faster and more efficient.  The panel also addressed current topics that included, "systemizing" liquidity views, order-building and the transaction process.

Fixed Income Data Mining

Moderator: Steve Winterstein, Managing Director & Chief Municipal Fixed Income Strategist, Willmington Trust
Panelists:

• Mark Heckert, Head of Pricing & Analytics, Intercontinental Exchange
• Ken Hoffman, President, DPC Data
• Hardy Manges, Head of Municipal Dealer Sales, MarketAxess
• Cindy Friedlander, Director, Fixed Income Regulation, FINRA

With the acceleration of technological advancements and the advent of big data, many financial services participants, including broker-dealers, buy-side asset managers, and regulators are challenged with determining what is relevant to accessing and organizing information so that it is useful and improves efficiency and scalability. The panel explored these different corners of the fixed income markets and discussed how they use data technology in their respective workflows.

Networking Reception

At the end of day one of the National Fixed Income Conference, participants gathered for the BDA's annual reception to network, visit with product and service providers -- many whom are sponsors and exhibitors at the conference. Staged in the middle of the exhibit hall, this networking reception provides another opportunity for participants to meet colleagues, and expand their business contacts. BDA appreciates all who participated and sponsored one of our best conferences to date!

Panelists:

• Lynnette Kelly, President and CEO, MSRB
• Robert Cook, President and CEO, FINRA

This fireside chat focused on the future of the fixed income markets. Both Cook and Kelly gave their insight into how to correct the declining numbers of broker-dealers and how the MSRB and FINRA can work to address this issue.  Cook and Kelly also elaborated on their views of the next ten years, and the role rulemaking plays in those market changes. Cook and Kelly also addressed MSRB Rule G-23 and FINRA Rule 4210, the latter of which was recently revised by FINRA to include BDA's capital charge in lieu of margin proposal.

The discussion was highlighted in a BondBuyer article which can be viewed here.

Creating and Managing A Diverse Workforce
Regulation and Enforcement of the Fixed Income Markets

Moderator: Sara O'Rourke, Associate Partner, McKinsey & Company
Panelists:

• Jeremious Henderson, Vice President, Compensation and Benefits, FINRA
• Kim Jenkins Manigault, Executive Vice President & Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer, KeyCorp

Is Your Firm Demographically Positioned for a Changing Workforce and Ultimately for Your Firm’s Success?
This panel's moderator, Sara O'Rourke, presented on the business case for diversity, the data behind the challenges diverse candidates face, and the ways organizations can make a difference. Mr. Henderson and Ms. Manigualt drew upon their experiences in the industry to leave the audience with a better understand of why diversity and inclusion are an important topic for 2018 and beyond.

You can view the presentation, "Leveling the Playing Field: The business case for diversity in the workplace - and how to deliver on it" here.

Fixed Income Legal & Compliance Roundtable (view the recap here) - October 24, 2018

Public Finance Leadership Roundtable (view the recap here) - October 25, 2018