Joseph O’Keefe
VP, Investment Banking
Butler Wick & Co., Inc.
Mr. O’Keefe is an investment banker in the Chicago metropolitan area. He has over twenty-five years of experience in U.S and international public finance as a municipal bond rating analyst. Originally based in New York, Mr. O’Keefe relocated to Chicago in 1994 and was the first municipal analyst based in the Midwest for two bond rating agencies. Mr. O’Keefe is currently an external advisor to the Government Finance Officers Association’s Committee on Debt Management. He also has been on the Smith’s Research All-Star Municipal Team (First Team) as a director of regional ratings for the Midwest.
Mr. O’Keefe has led municipal debt rating and research efforts in the Midwest for tax-backed debt issues at both Fitch Ratings (10 years) and Standard and Poor’s (15 years). His expertise includes general obligation, utility and healthcare debt. As a frequent speaker at national and regional conferences, he has helped shape public discussion of economic and financial trends and issues facing state and local governments.
When based in New York, Mr. O’Keefe managed twenty-five analysts as the manager of S&P’s general obligation group. He also spent six years as an analyst in the international finance department, covering governments, government-supported enterprises, utilities and banks in Australia, Canada, United Kingdom, New Zealand and Finland. His analytical experience included developing rating criteria for non-U.S. electric utilities.
Mr. O’Keefe also has been part of the public sector. Shortly after New York City financial crisis in the late 1970s, he was a senior analyst in the New York City Office of Management and Budget, supervising a group of eight budget analysts in monitoring the citywide expenditure budget and personnel level. He also coordinated citywide cash flow planning with other agency financial officials and helped prepare official statements for general obligation bond issues. In addition, Mr. O’Keefe was a management intern for the New York City Fire Department during the turbulent period following the electrical blackout of 1977.
Mr. O’Keefe graduated from the City College of New York, with a Bachelor of Arts in economics, and received a Master of Business Administration in finance from the University of Michigan Graduate School of Business Administration. He holds a FINRA series 7 license as a general securities registered representative and a NASAA series 63 license, uniform securities agent state law.