Muni Panel

Brian Battle

Director, Performance Trust Investment Advisors, LLC

With over 20 years of experience in the municipal arena, Brian is recognized nationwide as a man of tremendous insight and skill. Since joining Performance Trust in May 2005, he has expanded the company’s capabilities in areas such as liability management, taxable municipal bonds, and convex mortgage securities. As a frequent on-air commentator for CNBC, Fox Business News and Bloomberg TV, as well as an editor and regular contributor for both Mark-to-MarketDebate.com and TheRatingsDebate.com, Brian represents Performance Trust as one of its leading market experts.

Brian holds a Bachelor of Science degree in business and economics from Winona State University and an MBA from DePaul University.

September 9, 2010 - CNBC Brian Battle	September 9, 2010 - CME Group Brian Battle

Edward (Ted) Damutz

Vice President and Senior Credit Officer, Moody’s Investor Service

Ted is a Team Leader and co-manager of the Chicago Office. He is responsible for overseeing local government public finance credit issues in the North Central portion of the United States, including Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Michigan, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. Ted first joined Moody’s in early 1998, covering the Midwest region, and handled a diverse portfolio of credits until mid-2001. He rejoined Moody’s from Brown Brothers Harriman, where he was an International Credit Analyst. Previous professional experience includes work with Eastern European municipal entities during transition from communism at the Soros Foundation and as an Information Officer at the Office of the Spokesman for the Secretary General of the United Nations. Ted just completed his fourth year as a member of the Board of Governors of the National Federation of Municipal Analysts. He served as an officer on the Board of the Chicago Municipal Analyst Society for five years, including the president post for a year. Institutional investors elected Ted to the Smith’s All Star First Team in the Director of Regional Ratings in 2007, 2008, and 2009. He has provided commentary on Chicago Tonight and is frequently quoted in the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun Times, Crain’s and the Bond Buyer.

Ted earned a Master’s degree in International Relations from London School of Economics, a Master’s degree in Modern History from Central European University in Budapest, and a Bachelor’s in Modern History from Pitzer College in Claremont, CA.

Don Farrell

Director, Assured Guaranty

Don Farrell works on Assured Guaranty’s initiatives to maintain and expand the direct bond insurance companies’ working relationships with municipal sales, trading and syndication desks, within Assured Guaranty’s Eastern Region. Don joined Assured Guaranty from Ambac Assurance Corporation ("Ambac"), where he served most recently as Managing Director and Head of Public Finance East. In his 16 years at Ambac, he was involved in all aspects of municipal bond insurance, including credit analysis, transaction underwriting and pricing, and client relationship management, across the full spectrum of tax-backed and revenue-backed sectors. He holds a B.B.A. in Accounting from Pace University.

Jim Spiotto

Partner, Chapman and Cutler, LLP

Jim Spiotto is head of the Special Litigation, Bankruptcy and Workout Group. Mr. Spiotto has represented banks (and bank groups), insurance companies, institutional investors, funds, indenture trustees and bondholders in litigation or workouts for more than 400 troubled debt financings in over 35 different states and in over 10 foreign countries. He has lectured before various academic institutions, professional associations, authorities and governmental bodies regarding bankruptcy, municipal debt adjustment and the rights and remedies of indenture trustees, bondholders and issuers in defaulted debt securities. Mr. Spiotto has testified before governmental bodies regarding troubled debt financing, including appearances before the United States Congress in 1988, 1992 and 1995 with regard to amendments to the Bankruptcy Code. NABL presented him with the Carlson Prize in 1995 for best scholarly article for his work on municipal bankruptcy. In 1992 the National Federation of Municipal Analysts presented him with the Municipal Industry Contribution Award. In conjunction with the American Bankers Association, Mr. Spiotto has authored the treatise Defaulted Securities: The Prudent Indenture Trustee's Guide. He is a co-author of the treatise The Law of State and Local Government Debt Financing (West Group, 2001). Mr. Spiotto was named a "Super Lawyer" in the Bankruptcy section of Illinois Super Lawyers in 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010.

Robert Zubak

Portfolio Manager, Allstate

Bob is a Senior Portfolio Manager for Allstate Investments, LLC and has been a portfolio manager at Allstate since March 1989. He is currently managing the investment grade portion of the Allstate portfolio, which totals approximately $20 billion. Bob is a former Vice President and Portfolio Manager (August 1983 - March 1989) at Van Kampen Merritt, where he started and managed various mutual funds and closed end trusts. Bob is a member of the Chicago Municipal Analysts Society and was a member of the Board of the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB) from 2006 to 2009.

Bob is a graduate of the University of Illinois and has received his Masters degree from the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University.