The Bond Market Association took a different approach to its typically swanky and self-congratulatory annual awards dinner last month. With millions of Americans suffering in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the trade group decided to forgo the dinner in favor of a cocktail reception designed to raise money for storm relief.
Half of the $500,000 in proceeds from the event, held October 19 at New York’s Marriott Marquis hotel, will go to the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund, which is funneling donations to Gulf Coast relief projects and working with the governors of the affected states to coordinate rebuilding efforts. (The other half is earmarked for the evening’s usual beneficiary, the BMA’s financial literacy foundation.) This year, instead of bestowing its distinguished service award on a bond market luminary -- past recipients include Pimco founder Bill Gross and retiring Fed chairman Alan Greenspan -- the association invited Mississippi treasurer Tate Reeves to accept the honor on behalf of those involved in the relief and recovery efforts.
“Given the unprecedented level of need following the hurricanes in the Gulf states, we felt it was appropriate to broaden our annual fundraising event so we could help rebuild the affected communities,” says Micah Green, the group’s president.
Of course, the bond market will ultimately play an even bigger role in rebuilding the regions devastated by Katrina. The U.S. government has estimated the combined damage in Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi to be as high as $140 billion. And Congress is finalizing legislation that could authorize the issuance of disaster-recovery bonds as well as bonds to finance the rebuilding of airports and docks.
