Andrew is director, municipal research at Breckinridge. He is also a member of the firm’s Sustainability Committee. In his role, Andrew performs municipal credit analysis. He has been with the firm since 2013 and has over 13 years of investment industry experience. Prior to Breckinridge, Andrew was an analyst at Standard & Poor’s Rating Services covering states and local governments for the firm’s U.S. public finance group. Andrew also served as an analyst at the NYC Comptroller’s Office in the Bureau of Public Finance, which is responsible for management of the City’s capital markets borrowing. Andrew is a member of the National Federation of Municipal Analysts and the Boston Municipal Analysts Forum. He received a B.A. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Andrew also holds an MBA from the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill Kenan-Flagler Business School, and a Master of City and Regional Planning (MCRP) also from UNC-Chapel Hill.
On the importance of his role…
"Our research team is the first line of defense in managing and monitoring risks for our investments. As an analyst, I must stay on top of any credit changes to the bonds we’ve purchased and take action when appropriate.
On what brought him to Breckinridge…
"One of the reasons I was attracted to Breckinridge was its commitment to ESG research—even back at a time when few in the bond market were thinking about it. There are more incidences of distress and restructuring in the municipal landscape today versus in the past, and we believe Breckinridge was, and still is, at the forefront of thinking about these shifts in the credit environment.
On the importance of ESG…
"The research process typically starts with a fundamental picture of what a creditworthy borrower in the municipal market should look like. In our opinion, ESG brings in a much more comprehensive and holistic view of the borrower. It spurs us to think about other elements of creditworthiness that may not be addressed through traditional fundamental analysis alone.
On the most fulfilling part of his job…
"When analyzing the creditworthiness of a borrower, a wide range of criteria come into play. In many ways, we are solving puzzles. So many types of issues—such as public policy, government and political issues—must be analyzed and fit together; but, the best part is, our analysis is not performed in a silo by any one analyst. We have a team of analysts and a collaborative culture. We often collectively put the pieces of the puzzle together.
On his biggest challenge…
"One thing that’s changed in the municipal market in the past five to ten years is the availability of data, including financial, economic and increasingly ESG data. It has become a bigger challenge to sift through and harness what information is most applicable to each bond. We take this challenge head-on by continually investing in our technological systems and our frameworks. We are continually asking ourselves how can we use new information? Is it important? Is it material?