Client-focused investment banking, brokerage and advisory services

HilltopSecurities is a full-service municipal investment bank and wealth advisory firm providing a full suite of financial services for public entities, institutional investors, housing finance agencies, broker-dealers, and individual investors. Founded in 1946, its primary areas of focus include public finance, capital markets, structured finance, retail brokerage, clearing services, and securities lending. Hilltop Securities Inc.’s goal is to build long-term relationships to help communities, businesses, and individuals thrive. A wholly owned subsidiary of Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE: HTH), HilltopSecurities’ affiliates include Momentum Independent Network, HilltopSecurities Asset Management, HilltopSecurities Insurance, PlainsCapital Bank, and PrimeLending. Learn more at HilltopSecurities.com. Member: NYSE/FINRA/SIPC.

Assured Guaranty, the leading provider of municipal bond insurance, has helped reduce the cost of municipal finance and protected municipal investors for four decades. It guarantees timely payment of bonds’ principal and interest. Bond insurance from Assured Guaranty makes small, medium, and large municipal bond issues more cost-efficient for issuers because it creates greater security and market liquidity for investors, who prize not only the unconditional and irrevocable promise of payment but also Assured Guaranty’s credit underwriting, negotiated terms and surveillance. The group’s holding company, Assured Guaranty Ltd., is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (ticker symbol AGO) and is held to the transparency standards of both the exchange and U.S. securities law.

Learn more at AssuredGuaranty.com

Orrick is a global law firm serving the technology, energy, infrastructure, finance, and life sciences sectors across 25+ markets worldwide. For over a century, Orrick has advised governments, public agencies, developers, investors, and lenders on complex infrastructure and public finance transactions. Ranked Band 1 byChambers USA for Public Finance, P3s, Energy Transition, Renewables, and Power, Orrick combines market-leading public finance and infrastructure capabilities to help clients deliver critical projects through innovative financing and procurement solutions. Over the past five years, the firm has advised on more than $624 billion in public finance transactions and $188 billion in P3 and alternative delivery projects.

Oppenheimer is a global financial institution offering Wealth Management, Capital Markets, and Investment Banking solutions. We have been providing customized strategies centered on the goals of our clients since 1881 — using our extensive experience, resources, research, and knowledge to help advance society, improve our communities, and leave the world a better place.

Beth joined Oppenheimer in 2024 as Head of Public Finance. With over 30 years of industry expertise, she has completed $40 billion in transactions throughout her career. Ms. Coolidge most recently led UBS’s Midwest Public Finance unit for over six years.

She has served as lead banker on numerous hallmark financings including: the Chicago Housing Authority’s Capital Program Revenue Bonds, backed solely by the federal grants that the Authority received from HUD, which won the inaugural Deal of the Year award by The Bond Buyer in 2002, The Indianapolis Local Public Improvement Bond Bank’s Community Justice Center financing which won Midwest Deal of the Year in 2019; and, most recently, Ms. Coolidge was awarded the 2023 Bond Buyer Deal of the Year Award for her work on the City of Chicago’s Sales Tax Securitization transaction, inclusive of the City’s inaugural social bond issuance that achieved the highest pricing differential on an ESG financing to date.

In 2017, Beth was recognized as a Trailblazing Women in Public Finance by The Bond Buyer and continues to pave the way for women of our industry.

Ms. Coolidge is a lifelong resident of the City of Chicago and serves on numerous charitable boards in Chicago. She has served on the board of the Chicago Summer Business Institute since its inception and has served as Co-Chair for over 10 years. Ms. Coolidge also serves on the board of The Civic Federation of Chicago where she sits on the Executive Committee. She serves on the Board of Regents of St. Ignatius College Prep, and the boards of Catholic Charities, The Irish Fellowship Club of Chicago and the board of Maryville Academy. Ms. Coolidge is also a member of The Economic Club of Chicago where she serves on the membership committee. In October 2018, Ms. Coolidge was appointed to the board of the Chicago Infrastructure Trust by Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the Chicago City Council. For the past 10 years, she has served as an instructor for the Municipal Bond Club of Chicago Bond School.

Ms. Coolidge received her B.A. in English from the University of Illinois‐Urbana on a General Assembly Scholarship. Ms. Coolidge holds FINRA Series 7, 24, 52, 53, 63, 65, and 79 licenses.

Nikolai J. Sklaroff joined the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) as its Capital Finance Director in May 2022. As Capital Finance Director, he is responsible for developing, implementing and administering the SFPUC Capital Financing activities across the agency. He leads a team of professionals supporting the agency’s capital project funding activities including financing transactions, banking agreements, commercial paper program activities, credit rating activities and debt administration, among others. The role serves in a key leadership function at the SFPUC. The Capital Finance Director manages the day-to-day operations of the SFPUC’s $6+ billion outstanding debt portfolio and the daily operations of the SFPUC’s $1.5 billion Commercial Paper Program across three enterprises, Water, Wastewater and Power. Nikolai has spent more than three decades in the public finance industry and most recently served as the Deputy Director of Finance responsible for the Debt & Treasury Management division in the City of San José. In that role he oversaw teams managing the City’s $4.6 billion debt portfolio across all enterprises, managing the City’s $2.4 billion investment portfolio and managing the City’s banking operations. He also spent 22 years as a senior public finance investment banker in San Francisco with Citigroup Global Markets, J. P. Morgan – where he was national Head of Cultural Institutions investment banking – and Wells Fargo. Prior to becoming an investment banker in 1997, Nikolai was a senior Moody’s Investors Service rating agency analyst and member of Moody’s rating committee. Nikolai began his career as a financial advisor with Public Financial Management, Inc. in his hometown of Philadelphia, where he received his degrees from the Wharton School and the College of Arts and Sciences of the University of Pennsylvania, prior to moving to England to pursue his graduate degree. He pursued further graduate studies at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. A frequent speaker at industry conferences and author on public finance topics, Nikolai has also served on multiple boards of directors and advisory committees. Nikolai is currently serving on the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) Debt Committee. As a former California Debt and Investment Advisory Commission (CDIAC) Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) member, Nikolai continues to enjoy assisting CDIAC with policy publications and seminars.

Nicole Riggs is a Senior Vice President and Relationship Manager in U.S. Bank’s Government and Higher Education Division covering government and university clients and prospects in New York and Massachusetts. With nearly 20 years of public finance experience in both government and banking roles, Nicole is adept at identifying financial solutions offered by the bank, with expertise in funded and off-balance sheet lending. Nicole joined U.S. Bank in December 2022, upon the completion of its acquisition of MUFG Union Bank’s public finance business. Prior to joining MUFG Union Bank in 2014, Nicole spent 7 years with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. As the Manager of Aviation Capital Financial Services, she oversaw the financial aspects of the Aviation Department’s multi-billion-dollar capital plan and Passenger Facility Charge (PFC) program. Nicole also managed the annual strategic business planning process, analyzed and consolidated unit and facility operating budgets, and supported procurement and Board approval processes. Nicole is a regular speaker at municipal industry and educational conferences, and a member of the Municipal Analysts Group of New York and the Northeast Women in Public Finance. Nicole earned Master’s Degrees in Public Affairs and Urban and Regional Planning from the School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University, and a B.A. in Communications, with minors in Political Science and Spanish, from the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA). She holds Series 52, 63, and 79 securities licenses and resides with her family in New York City.