We are proud to extend congratulations to Richard Ciccarone – publisher of MuniNetGuide.com – who recently received the 2007 Lifetime Achievement Award from SMITH’s Research & Gradings.
SMITH’s, an independent municipal bond research firm, publishes the Research & Gradings newsletter, and sponsors a variety of conferences throughout the year. The annual All Star Municipal Analyst conference honors analysts in various sectors of the municipal market.
Ciccarone was recognized by SMITH’s for “promoting entrepreneurial solutions and new products to meet today’s challenges.”
MuniNet is a prime example of Ciccarone’s entrepreneurial spirit. In 1996, recognizing the vast opportunities afforded by the Internet – then in its infancy – he founded MuniNet Guide & Review. Launched as a print newsletter a year later, MuniNet became a valuable resource for professionals in state and local government, municipal bonds, and related industries looking to navigate the Internet more efficiently.
Ciccarone continues to lead the MuniNet team with vision and insight, helping the guide – now published exclusively online – evolve and grow over the past decade.
Spanning the thirty years of his career in fixed income research, Ciccarone has developed a strong name for himself in the industry, winning countless awards and cited in numerous publications. As Managing Director and Chief Research Officer of McDonnell Investment Management, LLC, based in Oakbrook, Illinois, Ciccarone currently has research oversight for approximately $5 billion in municipal bond securities and about $3.6 billion in corporate securities, according to a corporate press release.
Ciccarone was recognized by SMITH’s for “promoting entrepreneurial solutions and new products to meet today’s challenges.”
He is also President of Merritt Research Services, LLC, a municipal bond credit database based in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
In presenting the award, McDonnell Chairman praised Ciccarone for not only developing his own outstanding career, but also for mentoring and fostering the careers of a host of other municipal analysts, including many past and current year SMITH’s All-Stars.
– Mardee Alvaro, editor