Assured promotes two, brings on former Citi employee to beef up new-issue development

Assured Guaranty has promoted two of its employees and brought on a former Citi employee to grow its new-issue and secondary market business.

Marc Livolsi will now act as the firm’s U.S. Public Finance New Issue Marketing and Business Development, and Evan Boulukos will lead Assured’s Secondary Markets desk, both of whom will report to Chris Chafizadeh, senior managing director and co-head of Public Finance. Neither are replacing anyone.

Additionally, Paige Litten, who has worked for Citi since 2015, has joined Assured as a director, reporting to Livolsi.

“We are excited to have Marc and Evan take on their new roles,” Chafizadeh said in a statement. “In the relatively short time they have worked at Assured Guaranty, they have already contributed to our growth.”

Both Livolsi and Boulukos have “long, successful track records,” and the firm’s “public finance business will benefit from their long and deep involvement in the municipal bond market as we further build our market leadership position,” he said.

“We are delighted to have Paige join our Public Finance team,” Livolsi said. “With her knowledge and experience, she can play an important role in originating and optimizing deal execution across all sectors and states.”

Assured was the top municipal bond insurer in 2023, accounting for $19.516 billion in 645 deals, accounting for 55.2% of the market share, up from the $16.980 billion in 648 deals for a 50.8% market share in 2022, according to LSEG data.

The firm’s 14.9% increase in bond insurance year-over-year was helped by several large deals — $1.1 billion of insurance on Dormitory Authority of the State of New York bonds, $800 million on  John F. Kennedy International Airport bonds, $756 million on Houston, Texas Airport System bonds, and $732 million on  Power Authority of the State of New York green bonds, said Robert Tucker, senior managing director of investor relations and communications at Assured in January.

Livolsi, who joined Assured in July after 25 years at Citi, “will focus primarily on maintaining and expanding relationships with public finance professionals on sales and trading desks and executing new business originations across all public finance sectors, in addition to supporting Assured Guaranty’s investor outreach,” a press release stated.

“Assured Guaranty is the premier municipal bond insurance company, and it has been the leading force in bringing bond insurance to its highest penetration rate since 2008,” Livolsi said in a statement. It’s a privilege to work with such a dynamic group of underwriters and to bring our story of financial strength, resilience and benefits for issuers and investors to decisionmakers in the municipal market.”

Boulukos, who has more than 20 years of experience in the muni market, will manage the firm’s Secondary Markets desk, overseeing “operations and building strategies to help drive increased secondary market penetration across all client segments,” the release noted.

“The vast municipal secondary market offers a wealth of opportunities to add value and facilitate trading through bond insurance,” Boulukos said in a statement. “I’m looking forward to building on Assured Guaranty’s long-established presence in this market to expand our reach and continue to provide the responsive, first-class service we are known for.”

Litten will be in charge of originating new business, executing dals, and showing Assured’s trading value across all public finance sectors, with an emphasis on client and investor engagement, the release said.