Muni credit veteran John Ceffalio joins Northern Trust Asset Management

Municipal credit analysis specialist John Ceffalio joined Chicago-based Northern Trust Asset Management this month to fill the newly created position of head of municipal client portfolio management that’s within the firm’s global fixed income group.

Ceffalio, who left CreditSights for the new position, will work alongside the portfolio management and research teams “serving all client groups in providing insight and guidance to them on NTAM’s full lineup of muni strategies, including through in-person meetings,” a firm spokesman said. “By working closely with NTAM’s portfolio management and research teams, he will bring in-depth knowledge of the muni market and NTAM’s investment strategies.”

The firm said the position marks an expansion of its fixed income team that’s responsible for management of $470 billion of assets — including $29.2 billion in the municipal realm — that will aid clients in navigating “the evolving and increasingly challenging fixed income market.”

“Adding the expertise that John possesses in the muni space, and offering it in a client-facing manner, is a continuation of our emphasis on holistic service,” Thomas Swaney, chief investment officer of global fixed income within NTAM, said in a statement.  The team is also looking to hire a municipal research analyst.

For Ceffalio, the position marks a return to the buy side. Ceffalio joined CreditSights, an independent provider of fixed income research, in early 2021 as a senior research analyst for municipals after more than 10 years at the asset management firm, AllianceBernstein.

At CreditSights, he led a three-member team that provides independent municipal credit and market research. Fitch Group acquired the firm in 2021.  

At AllianceBernstein, Ceffalio was a senior municipal credit analyst covering a range of sectors and high-profile credits including Puerto Rico and Illinois.

Ceffalio previously spent nearly two years as an analyst at Moody’s Investors Service on the state ratings team and also covered public transit credits. He previously had spent three years at Fitch Ratings as an analyst and worked at the former Bear Stearns as a municipal counterparty analyst.

Ceffalio also is an adjunct associate professor at the Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service at NYU and serves on the executive committee of the National Federation of Municipal Analysts and this year is vice-chair. He plans to relocate from the East Coast to Chicago.

A CreditSights representative said he couldn’t comment on whether the firm would replace Ceffalio.