NFMA's new chair highlights initiatives including membership survey, white papers

Angela Kukoda, the 2026 National Federation of Municipal Analysts chair, highlighted a variety of efforts the organization is undertaking this year to help its members navigate the current rapidly changing environment and also ensure that NFMA remains a valuable resource for them in the future.

NFMA "serves a lot of core functions," Kukoda, head of municipal credit and research at Seix Investment Advisors, a division of Virtus Fixed Income Advisers, said in a recent interview. The new NFMA chair, who began her career in the industry in 1989 as an analyst at the credit rating agency now known as S&P Global Ratings, said she has been actively participating in NFMA "since about 2010."

"I've never failed to be impressed by the professionalism and collegiality of its members but there's so much that it provides: Professional development opportunities, conferences and educational events, networking and, obviously, advocating for best practices," said Kukoda, who prior to joining Seix in 2018 was head of public finance credit and research at Hilltop Securities Inc.

Still, NFMA is eager to hear from its members about how it can do better when it comes to performing its core functions, she said. In a letter to members contained in a recent NFMA newsletter, Kukoda wrote that in recent years "technology and other forces have caused our industry to evolve at what often seems like a dizzying pace, creating challenges."

NFMA's officers and other members of its 2026 Board of Governors are committed to turning those challenges into opportunities, and, accordingly, NFMA plans to begin the year with a comprehensive survey of its membership so that it can learn how to best address members' current and future needs, she said.

"It's a rapidly evolving environment," Kukoda said in the interview. "And so towards this end, we thought that we would have a member survey to address how we're performing those core functions, what we're doing well and what we could do better."

A special subcommittee under the auspices of NFMA's membership outreach committee is currently working on the survey, she said. The subcommittee is chaired by Emily Wadhwani, senior director in U.S. public finance and sector lead for the higher education and non-profit group at Fitch Ratings.

"We're enthusiastic about this project because the feedback and results we receive are going to determine how NFMA proceeds this year and in the future, so what we're looking for is membership engagement," Kukoda said. "We're hoping it'll result in greater participation in our organization, including conferences and other educational events as well as committees."

NFMA in 2026 will also maintain what Kukoda described in her letter to members as its "unrelenting focus on best practices." Under the guidance of Wells Fargo's (WFC) Jason Pollack, who serves as NFMA's 2026 vice chair and industry practices committee chair, NFMA will release two white papers.

One of the papers will be on evaluating collateral packages across a variety of sectors.

"A 'collateral package' is basically the bundle of property recovery sources provided by the borrower and obligor if a bond goes into default," Kukoda said, adding that the white paper will cover the five most common recovery resources but won't cover third-party payment promises such as guarantees or bond insurance.

The other white paper NFMA plans to release this year will be on natural disaster risk as a credit risk.

Also this year, NFMA, under the auspices of the industry practices committee, is establishing a technology subcommittee that will be led by Abhishek Lodha, director, secondary markets, Assured Guaranty (AGO).

Part of its mission will be to provide educational opportunitiesfor NFMA members of all career levels on a variety of topics, including use of artificial intelligence in credit analysis and disclosure input.

"Abhishek has already done a lot of work for NFMA in this area," Kukoda said.

Each Fall, the NFMA holds an Introduction to Municipal Bond Credit Analysis. Last year's event included a presentation by Lodha entitled "The Future Analyst: Role of Tech in Muni Credit."

"And it was the first time we provided this type of offering in our intro course, which we have once a year, and we received so much positive feedback about it from the attendees," Kukoda said. "So we believe it's important to provide these opportunities for members of all career levels."

The upcoming NFMA 2026 Annual Conference, scheduled for May in Atlanta, will also address the technology theme, she said, citing a planned breakout session entitled "New Trends in Credit Technology."

Kukoda also noted that Mary Francoeur has joined NFMA in the role of industry and media liaison. Francoeur, who retired from PFM Financial Advisors in 2023, brings nearly four decades of experience in public finance, a January NFMA press release regarding her appointment to the role said.

"She's a perfect person to work on strengthening our relationships and engagement with industry partners and regulators," Kukoda said. "And we're looking to her to really ensure that our viewpoints are communicated effectively and consistently ? that we have a voice really in an increasingly complex policy environment."