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The panel discussion will provide an outlook for the housing sector in the year ahead as well as highlight some of the most pressing issues facing the housing market in Texas.

Due to a rise in global awareness of ESG factors, socially responsible bond issuances have grown rapidly over the past decade, and will their popularity continue to expand? In this session, we will explore: (1) Will the municipal sector embrace the global trend toward greater transparency in financing public infrastructure assets; and (2) How will investors evaluate the qualitative environmental credentials of these projects relative to other green fixed-income investments? (3) As the area gains momentum and investors demand ESG designations for their portfolios, how are pricing and evaluations, and the traders who use them, factoring in ESG into their models?

Mark Zandi, Chief Economist, Moody's Analytics

Join our market leaders as they present their viewpoints on the macroeconomic picture and prospects for the U.S. muni market.

Michael Ballinger, Publisher, The Bond Buyer; Leonard Jones, Managing Director - US Public Finance Group, Moody's Investors Service; Noé Hinojosa, Jr., Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer, Estrada Hinojosa & Co., Inc.; Lloyd Pepperl, Head of Relationship Management, Moody's Investors Service

During this panel discussion, our experts will give a recap of the developments in the last legislative session. Additionally, they will identify what the pressure points are as well as legislative priorities for the state and their impact on Texas public finance in the upcoming year. Senate bill 19 and 13 Revenue and economic development Public initiatives and housing Resilience planning

The infrastructure law brings $550 billion to the municipal finance market. Our panelists will discuss how the market can integrate the infrastructure dollars to bolster the broader municipal industry. A portion of the discussion will focus on the bill's impact on the Texas market specifically.

The massive snowstorm that hit Texas in February 2021 brought to light the state's unique energy challenges. It also gave the rest of the country a glimpse of the trouble that climate change could bring for power grids all over the U.S. As climate change accelerates, many electric grids will experience severe weather events that are well beyond the historical conditions for which they were built, which places them at risk of catastrophic failure. In this session, we will investigate the risks and solutions that will have an impact on this sector.

Michael Ballinger, Publisher The Bond Buyer, The Bond Buyer; Jay Redd, Managing Director, Head of Infrastructure Finance, Public Finance, UBS Global Wealth Management; Kevin Murphy, Partner, Hawkins Delafield & Wood LLP

Shawn Wooden, Treasurer of the State of Connecticut, State of CT