Title: Executive director, head of public power
Firm: J.P. Morgan Securities
Age: 39
A summer internship in finance erased all thoughts of Kevin Plunkett becoming a lawyer; he took an analyst position in public finance a few months into a paralegal job and he never looked back.
Now, executive director and head of public power at J.P. Morgan Securities LLC for nearly eight years, Kevin left his job as a paralegal — a week after taking the LSATs — when he was offered a job as a public finance analyst.
"The LSAT score was good for five years, so I figured I could give it a try, and here I am 17 years later," Kevin said, adding that his mentors and colleagues have been instrumental in his career development.
"I had the opportunity to work with interesting issuers and complex transactions early on in my career, which gave me a solid foundation to build on," Kevin said. "I am fortunate enough to still work with many of the same issuers that I worked with as an analyst/associate, and have been able to expand my coverage into different sectors."
His colleague Isaac Sine, managing director and head of Northeast region at J.P. Morgan, said Kevin excels in his role of leading a team of bankers responsible for coverage of all public power and not-for-profit utilities in the United States, as well as leading coverage efforts for several of the largest and most active issuers in the Northeast region.
"He has been instrumental in leading the coverage of some of the largest issuers in the country and has served as a dealer manager for some of the larger tender/exchange transactions," said Sine, who has worked with Kevin for over 12 years, covering energy and Northeast clients.
Kevin's team was ranked first in energy in 2022 by Bloomberg on the strength of the public power business, as well as a large volume of ratepayer-backed securitizations led by J.P. Morgan, according to Sine.
"Kevin is a leader internally and a mentor to many of the junior bankers in the department," Sine added. "To me, Kevin is the definition of a Rising Star in public finance."
When he's not working on public power deals or spending time with his wife of three years, Lauren, and nine-month-old son, Henry, Plunkett enjoys playing golf and the guitar, as well as traveling.
