Frank Thomas interviews Jared White, Vice President of Stephens Inc.’s Public Finance Practice in North Carolina, in this episode of Stephens Viewpoints. Frank and Jared discuss North Carolina’s public finance. Communities are investing in Minor League baseball stadiums, public transportation in light rail lines and bus lines, and in innovative high schools, attracting commerce to downtown and growing their populations.
Key Takeaways:
[:43] In the North Carolina market, and in public finance in general, Jared is seeing a strong attraction to building Minor League baseball stadiums, especially in second-tier markets, to help revitalize downtown communities. North Carolina is the second-most populated state in terms of Minor League ballparks.
[1:22] Communities looking to attract a Minor League team first need to allocate land for a stadium. Land use is a top consideration. Charlotte had a team, but their stadium was in South Carolina. Building a stadium in downtown Charlotte brought their attendance from one of the nation’s lowest, to breaking minor league attendance records.
[2:28] Stephens Public Finance usually comes to the table after a baseball consultant, such as Hardball Capital, who works with the municipality to design the stadium, works with architects to lay it out on the plot, and takes the presentation to the ball club. At that point, Stephens comes in, having a general idea how much it will cost.
[3:19] From there, Stephens will work with the issuer on tailoring a financing plan that meets all of those needs at the lowest cost of capital. Stephens also looks at taxable bonds for this type of project, although upcoming Federal legislation may change that.
[4:11] Sports stadiums are being used as a magnet to attract development to downtown areas in other communities. Baseball is America’s pastime, especially at the affordable price of Minor League tickets for a family outing. There are four stadiums being built in North Carolina. NASCAR stadiums are being repurposed for teams when not in use.
[5:25] Stephens has a lot of stadium experience dating back to the Superdome financing in New Orleans. Stephens does a lot of college and university football and baseball stadium and sports complex financing. Stephens knows the small markets.
[6:08] Over the last 17 years, North Carolina has seen some of the strongest population growth. Most of the growth is in the downtown areas of communities. They are investing in public transportation with Lynx light rail lines and bus systems. Cities are turning high schools into innovative bridge-to-work programs, attracting industry to downtown.
[7:15] Jared says this downtown focus is definitely a trend. The six largest cities in North Carolina are seeing growth in their downtown area and they all have a Minor League presence. This activity attracts restaurants, hotels, other commerce, and really revitalizes and grows the downtown area.
[8:26] For more information on this topic, please contact Stephens Public Finance at 1-800-643-9691. To listen to more Stephens Viewpoints, check out our website.
Mentioned in This Episode:
Securities offered through Stephens, Inc., Member NYSE, SIPC.
This podcast should not be copied, distributed, published, or reproduced, in whole, or in part. The information contained in this podcast is not financial research, nor a product of Stephens Research. Stephens does not make any representation or warranty as to the accuracy or completeness of the statements or any information contained in this podcast and any liability therefore is expressly disclaimed. The views expressed in this podcast are not necessarily those of Stephens and Stephens is not providing any investment, financial, economic, legal, accounting, or tax advice, or recommendations in this podcast. In addition, the downloading of this podcast by any listener does not make that listener a client of Stephens.
Frank Thomas interviews Tom Kane, Executive Vice President and Director of Life & Health for Stephens Insurance, in this episode of Stephens Viewpoints. Frank and Tom discuss the importance of the practitioner model when advising clients on health insurance and benefits. With medical practitioners on staff, account executives can provide clients with transparency on healthcare and pharmacy costs. Tom discusses the benefits of data-driven analytics in understanding health risks within a client employee group, and the benefit of providing important steps employees can take to reduce their risks of future disease and to manage existing disease.
Key Takeaways:
[:48] Stephens Insurance has both a medical practitioner and a pharmacist on staff. Tom explains how Stephens has responded to changes in client expectations over the last 10 to 15 years by transforming to a risk management philosophy from the historical transactional role of most brokers.
[1:46] Looking at the risks in a health plan population requires the insight of clinical practitioners. In 2006, Stephens hired two registered pharmacists, who are still with Stephens today. A few years later, Stephens added a medical director.
[2:11] Sitting with a client, the Stephens broker can now have a different conversation focused on what is actually happening within the plan, what is driving the cost, rather than just a conversation around shifting costs.
[2:25] The Stephens medical director works with account executives to study client health data and advise on the trends occurring within their population. They can find gaps in care, such as patients not following the protocols for managing diseases, or if employees are not getting screenings. Stephens can help incentivize compliance.
[3:29] The role of the pharmacists is to help clients design the best pharmacy program for their health plan. They understand the pharmacy industry. They have a hands-on role with the clients and the account management team.
[4:06] Stephens believes in total transparency. Clients have a right to know the Pharmacy Benefit Manager pricing methodologies. People need to have access to transparent quality data, as well. Stephens advises clients to provide tools to employees that allow them to understand what the costs are.
[4:53] In Central Arkansas, Stephens has done research that shows the cost for an MRI to be very different from one provider to the next. Transparency is the future of healthcare and insurance. People should be able to go online and see what an MRI costs, and not only what it costs, but who has the highest quality outcomes.
[5:19] Tom says health insurance is bad for your health because it was offered as a remedy for being sick. The message needs to change to things you can do to prevent getting sick. Having a practitioner model where you can present the client with practitioner expertise is empowering and transformative for the client and employees.
[6:32] For the first time, companies are dealing with the wellness of employees that span three generations. That adds levels of complexity from messaging, to the disease states of the generations. Younger people need to stay healthy; mature people need to change behaviors to reverse early disease; the elderly need to manage their diseases.
[8:30] Everything Stephens does begins and ends with data. It has done an exhaustive process of vetting data analytic vendors. It has found a best-in-class provider for its clients. Through risk-scoring and predictive analytics, Stephens can tell a client, if nothing changes, this is what your health care costs will look like.
[9:11] Stephens is able to predict with a high degree of accuracy what’s going to happen to care costs and admissions if a client employee group does not make any changes. It’s very empowering to have access to that data, where we can pinpoint individuals who are at risk for a significant health event.
[9:37] To our listeners, please continue to tune in as we explore more topics with experts from Stephens Insurance. For more information on this topic, please contact Stephens Insurance at 1-800-643-9691. To listen to more Stephens Viewpoints, check out our website.
Mentioned in This Episode:
Insurance products offered through Stephens Insurance, LLC., National Producer Number 8844362. Securities are offered through Stephens, Inc., Member NYSE, SIPC.
“This podcast should not be copied, distributed, published, or reproduced, in whole, or in part. The information contained in this podcast is not financial research, nor a product of Stephens Research. Stephens does not make any representation or warranty as to the accuracy or completeness of the statements or any information contained in this podcast and any liability therefore is expressly disclaimed. The views expressed in this podcast are not necessarily those of Stephens and Stephens is not providing any investment, financial, economic, legal, accounting,