/ Research Team

Richard A. Ciccarone
President & Chief Executive Officer

A veteran of the financial services industry with over 25 years of experience, Ciccarone is recognized for expertise in municipal finance and research. Over the years, Mr. Ciccarone has distinguished himself as an expert in municipal bonds and research. He has received 19 awards and distinctions from Institutional Investor; Smith’s Research & Ratings, Global Guaranty, the Bond Buyer and the National Federation of Municipal Analysts. Seven awards have recognized him as the top municipal bond generalist of the year, including Institutional Investor Magazine’s 1st Team Fixed Income Analyst in the municipal generalist category). In 1997, 1998, and 1999 Smith’s Research named him as the #1 Buy side Research Director. He has also been honored in the past as an All-Star Sell side Research Director as well as for specialty work in health care, tax supported debt and bond insurance. He has been frequently quoted in the financial press for his expertise in municipal bonds by publications such as the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Bloomberg, Reuters, The Bond Buyer, Kiplinger’s, Money as well as broadcast media.

In addition to serving as President of Merritt Research, Mr. Ciccarone is a Managing Director and Chief Research Officer of McDonnell Investment Services, LLC (Oak Brook, IL) where he is responsible for managing the Company’s investment research resources, including the management of research analysts and analytical tools to support client portfolios. McDonnell Investment Management is a minority owner of Merritt Research. Mr. Ciccarone is also Publisher of MuniNet Guide & Review, a print and electronic newsletter devoted to municipal oriented web sites and research.

Prior to September 2001, Mr. Ciccarone served as Senior Vice President and Co-Head of Fixed Income at Van Kampen Investments Inc., where he shared responsibility for all bond asset management activities, including municipal and taxable mutual funds. Prior to that position, he served at Van Kampen as Senior Vice President and Co-Head of Municipal Investments and Director of Research. From 1989 to 1996, Mr. Ciccarone served in various capacities at EVEREN Securities Inc (Chicago) and its predecessor firms (Kemper Securities Inc and Blunt Ellis & Loewi. Inc) as an Executive Vice President and Director of Fixed Income Research and Tax Exempt Fixed Income Research. At EVEREN, he also chaired the EVEREN Advisory Council, which provided top management input on issues facing the firm. From 1983 to 1989, Mr. Ciccarone was a Vice President and Director of Unit Investment Trust Research for Van Kampen Merritt Inc. In 1985, Van Kampen became the original project manager of The Merritt System, the predecessor of Merritt Research Services LLC. Prior to 1983, he was manager of municipal research at Harris Bank (Chicago).

He is a co-founder, past national chairman and a member of the National Federation of Municipal Analysts and also past chairperson of the NFMA’s long term planning committee as well as its Standard’s and Practices Committee. He represented the NFMA for four years on the Governmental Accounting Standards Advisory Board. He is past president of the Chicago Municipal Analysts Society and a member of the invitation only Society of Municipal Analysts. Active in community affairs, he is an elected member to the Board of Trustees of the Village of Hinsdale, IL, chairman of the village’s Administration and Community Affairs Committee and a former member of the Village’s Plan Commission. He also serves on the boards of the Hinsdale Theater Foundation, the Civic Federation of Chicago and a past president of the Committee of One Hundred (Hinsdale). He earned a B.A. degree at Miami University (Ohio) and a dual Master’s degree in Public Administration and Urban Studies from the University of Akron.