Blue Rose Advisors Blog
Blue Rose’s Max Wilkinson Promoted to Senior Vice President
We are pleased to announce that Max Wilkinson has been promoted to Senior Vice President at Blue Rose Capital Advisors. Max is stepping into the Senior Vice President role with after nearly 10 years as part of the Blue Rose team. He will provide leadership on capital planning and a variety of debt transactions, including being a key member of our bond pricing team.
Blue Rose’s Georgina Walleshauser Promoted to Senior Vice President
We are pleased to announce that Georgina Walleshauser has been promoted to Senior Vice President at Blue Rose Capital Advisors. As a Senior Vice President, Georgina has taken the new responsibility of providing senior leadership for Blue Rose’s client engagements.
Noah Rosenbaum Joins Blue Rose Capital Advisors as Analyst
We are pleased to announce that Noah Rosenbaum has joined the Blue Rose team as an Analyst. In his role, Mr. Rosenbaum will be responsible for providing analytical, research, and transactional support to the lead advisory team serving higher education, non-profit, and government clients with debt advisory and reinvestment services.
Blue Rose’s Brandon Lippold Promoted to Senior Vice President
We are pleased to announce that Brandon Lippold has been promoted to Senior Vice President at Blue Rose Capital Advisors. As a Senior Vice President, Brandon will serve as a lead advisor to our clients on a variety of debt and debt related transactions.
Blue Rose’s Scott Talcott Promoted to Managing Director
We are pleased to announce that Scott Talcott has been promoted to Managing Director at Blue Rose Capital Advisors. As a Managing Director, Scott will serve a diverse client base as one of the firm’s senior strategists and foremost thought leaders.
Blue Rose is Presenting at The ‘Managing Debt Covenants and Financial Ratios in a Challenging Environment’ Live Webinar
Maxwell Wilkinson, Vice President, is presenting on a live webinar with CliftonLarsonAllen on December 17, 2025. Join our complimentary webinar, Managing Debt Covenants and Financial Ratios in a Challenging Environment, to explore how financial covenants and ratios shape operational planning and debt management in higher education.
Evolving Market Dynamics – Fed Funds vs. Treasury
Given the focus on recent activity of the Federal Reserve (Fed) and expectations of one more Fed rate cuts over the next few months, many of our clients have asked us what that might mean for the interest rates that they might earn on their bond proceeds. Accordingly, we reviewed the behavior of the Treasury market over the past approximately 20 years to see if we could identify quantifiable patterns and relationships between Federal Reserve activity and US Treasury securities.
Blue Rose’s Julia Cain Passes MSRB Series 50 Exam
We are pleased to announce that Julia Cain, Analyst, has passed the MSRB Series 50 Examination to become a qualified municipal advisor representative.
The Pros and Cons of Public-Private Partnerships in Higher Education
Public-Private Partnerships (“P3s”) have become a commonly considered method of funding, developing, and often operating much-needed capital projects in higher education. The principal motivations for higher education institutions to look to private sector partners are to share risks, provide financing, and deliver projects more efficiently and timely. Institutions considering a P3 path should carefully consider the trade-offs to determine whether a P3 truly aligns with their strategic objectives and if it is the most appropriate method of financing a particular project in the short- and long run.
Sam Gruer Joins Blue Rose as Managing Director
Sam Gruer brings more than 30 years of capital market experience to his role as Managing Director at Blue Rose Capital Advisors, where he focuses on the firm’s business development efforts and providing senior advisory services.
Basis Points: Tips for Optimizing Reinvestment Strategy
Prior to rejoining Blue Rose last month, I had the opportunity to sit on one of the Street’s reinvestment desks, where I submitted bids as a principal for many of the same products on which Blue Rose currently advises its clients. Below are a few of the lessons learned during this time period and how your Blue Rose advisor can help you optimize your returns and avoid unnecessary pitfalls.
Structuring Municipal Bonds: Serial and Term Bonds
Explore the key differences between serial bonds and term bonds in municipal finance, including pricing, maturity schedules, and benefits for issuers.
The Shield: End of Summer Market Update
Market participants have had much to ponder as they navigate through this period – how many rate cuts (if any) are coming this year? How will government policy, particularly tax reform, impact markets?
Julia Cain Joins Blue Rose Capital Advisors as an Analyst
In her new role, Ms. Cain will be responsible for providing analytical, research, and transactional support to the lead advisory team serving higher education, non-profit, and government clients with debt advisory and reinvestment services
Understanding Private Activity Bonds in the World of Municipal Bonds
Private Activity Bonds (“PABs”) are a specific type of municipal bond (“muni bonds”) where the ultimate borrower is often a nonprofit private entity. PABs allow these nonprofit organizations to issue tax-exempt bonds through conduit issuing authorities, unlike state and local governments that issue tax-exempt bonds under their own authority. PABs provide these entities an important vehicle for funding capital projects at a lower cost of capital than the taxable bonds market
In the Midst of Ongoing Market Volatility, Find Certainty with Fixed Rate Reinvestment
From one week to the next, borrowers may find that the indicative savings on their upcoming current refunding have diminished, or their estimated par amount for new money projects has increased beyond their expectations. Due to interest rate and credit spread volatility, deals may be delayed from coming to market and borrowers may face narrower options for investing their proceeds
The Shield – Leveraging Debt for Campus Improvement
In the ever-evolving landscape of higher education, institutions face mounting pressure to maintain and modernize their campuses with limited financial resources. From addressing aging infrastructure to expanding facilities for future growth, campus improvement is an essential but costly priority
Interest Rate Swaps: An Effective Risk Management Tool
An interest rate swap is a derivative contract between two parties in which one party pays a fixed rate and the other pays a variable rate with the goal of managing exposure to market fluctuations. The perception of interest rate swaps varies depending on the perspective of the individual or institution involved
Looming Uncertainty for the Higher Education Sector at the Dawn of the Second Trump Administration
The major credit rating agencies shared their 2025 outlook reports for higher education in December of 2024. Moody’s Investor Service assigned a “Stable” outlook for the sector, highlighting a steady financial environment for the sector due, in part, to waning pressure from inflation and modest growth for revenue streams
Series 50 and Series 54: The Path to Becoming a Municipal Advisor
Borrowers will often see mention of the Series 50 and Series 54 examinations. These qualifying exams are important for ensuring borrowers are getting top-tier advice from independent, qualified municipal advisors. To become a “Municipal Advisor Representative” per Rule G-3 of the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (“MSRB”), an individual must take the Series 50 qualification examination. “Municipal Advisor Principals” must pass the Series 54 examination. An entity engaging in municipal advisory activities without a registered Municipal Advisor Representative violates MSRB rules and other federal securities laws
Blue Rose Capital Advisors is Presenting at the “Leveraging Debt for Campus Improvement” Live Webinar
Blue Rose Capital Advisors’ Brandon Lippold, Vice President, and Maxwell Wilkinson, Vice President, are presenting on a live webinar with CliftonLarsonAllen on April 9, 2025. Join our complimentary webinar, Leveraging Debt for Campus Improvement, to discuss how to effectively finance campus innovations through strategic debt use
How Interest Rate Changes Impact Bond Reinvestment Decisions
It is important to consider the current interest rate environment when deciding how to reinvest tax-exempt bond proceeds. In particular, the yield curve can offer signals for how to best optimize a reinvestment structure. It is also important to consider the expectation of interest rate movements in the near future. While future interest rates cannot be predicted with certainty, reinvestment rates are shorter term and tend to closely follow the federal funds rate, for which the FOMC offers certain market signals
Market Update: SLGS vs. OMS in the Current Market
The yield curve has significantly normalized in the past several months. We’ve discussed how the shape of the yield curve can impact reinvestment decisions in previous articles (such as “The Slope of the Yield Curve and How it Affects Refunding Escrows”) and now, as a result of the normalization in the current market, we are seeing more and more instances where open market securities (“OMS”) are outperforming State and Local Government Series Securities (“SLGS”)
Understanding Your Long-Term Credit Rating
As institutions advance bond transactions to the market, a common step for many borrowers is to obtain a long-term bond rating for the issue. This rating is a signal to investors of an institution’s creditworthiness, i.e., its ability to repay its debt obligations. The “Big Three” bond rating agencies are Moody’s, S&P, and Fitch, which control most of the global bond rating market
The Key Role of Municipal Advisors in Pricing Bonds
Though there are many steps involved in successfully completing a financing in the capital markets, the pricing of the bonds themselves is one of the most important. Given its vital economic implications, having a municipal advisor (“MA”) providing advice, support, and advocacy throughout the process can be extremely beneficial in ensuring that borrowers can achieve optimal pricing results
Blue Rose’s Max Wilkinson Promoted to Senior Vice President
Blue Rose’s Georgina Walleshauser Promoted to Senior Vice President
Noah Rosenbaum Joins Blue Rose Capital Advisors as Analyst
Blue Rose’s Brandon Lippold Promoted to Senior Vice President
Blue Rose’s Scott Talcott Promoted to Managing Director
Blue Rose is Presenting at The ‘Managing Debt Covenants and Financial Ratios in a Challenging Environment’ Live Webinar
Evolving Market Dynamics – Fed Funds vs. Treasury
Blue Rose’s Julia Cain Passes MSRB Series 50 Exam
The Pros and Cons of Public-Private Partnerships in Higher Education