The 2023 McCombs Business Outlook focuses on the near- and longer-term future of three key industries in Texas — energy, real estate, and fintech/crypto.
Join us as we bring together experts in industry, the economy, and academia for a look at future risks and opportunities. The McCombs School is happy to partner with the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas once again on these annual events.
Dean Lillian Mills will host three Focus on the Future events at the FRB of Dallas branches in Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio:
Feb. 28 in Houston: Energy
Mar. 30 in Dallas: Real Estate
Date TBD in San Antonio: Fintech/Crypto
Register today! Space is limited at each venue, so please register early. For information about purchasing a table, contact alumni@mccombs.utexas.edu.
Feb. 28 | 7:30-9:30 a.m.
Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas — Houston Branch
7:30-8:30 a.m. Breakfast and networking
8:30-9:30 a.m. Panel discussion
Geopolitical disruption of energy markets, rising energy prices, historic SPR withdrawal, and the Inflation Reduction Act were among the top headlines of 2022. Looking ahead to 2023, businesses are making short- and long-term strategic plans to protect their interests in light of potential uncertainty.
At the first of the three-series Business Outlook events, economic, academic, and industry experts will consider several key questions related to energy as well as where are we in the economic cycle, what are the 2023 prospects for Texas’ economy, and how can businesses forecast industry fluctuations and gain competitive advantage?
Jesse Thompson serves as senior business economist at the Houston Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. Thompson, who joined the Bank in 2010, performs research and analysis on issues affecting the Houston and Gulf Coast economy. In particular, he studies issues surrounding area hydrocarbon industries. He also collects information for the Dallas Fed’s Beige Book summary of current economic conditions. He is author of the monthly Energy Indicators, the Houston Economic Indicators, and contributes to the quarterly publication Southwest Economy. Thompson earned an MA in economics, with emphasis on empirical microeconomics, and BA in philosophy and economics from the University of Houston.
Laura T. Starks, Ph.D., is the George Kozmetsky Centennial University Distinguished Chair at the McCombs School of Business, University of Texas at Austin, where she teaches graduate and undergraduate courses on environmental, social and governance investing. Her current research focuses on ESG issues, including climate finance and board diversity, as well as molecular genetics and financial decisions. She has won many awards for her research and teaching. She is Research Associate of the NBER, Research Member for the ECGI, and Senior Fellow for ABFER. She has served as President of the Society of Financial Studies, Western Finance Association and Financial Management Association, and is presently President-Elect of the American Finance Association. She is Editor of the FMA Survey and Synthesis Series, Advisory Editor for the Financial Analysts Journal and Financial Management and previously, Editor of the Review of Financial Studies. She has served or currently serves on mutual funds’ boards of directors, pension fund advisory committees, the Board of Governors of the Investment Company Institute, and the Governing Council of the Independent Directors Council, and advisory committees for the Norwegian Government Pension Fund.
David Baldwin joined SCF in 1991 and currently serves as our Partner in charge of the firm’s energy transition initiatives. In this role, he is responsible for SCF’s energy transition strategy, including identifying new platform investments, and helping SCF’s existing companies develop new energy markets. Previously, he was Co-President of the firm, and led SCF’s efforts financing and helping to build North American focused companies. During his time at SCF, David has supported the development and creation of public companies National Oilwell Varco, Oil States International, Complete Production Services, and Forum Energy Technologies. He currently works closely with Nine Energy Services and Select Energy Services.
David earned his degree in Petroleum Engineering and his MBA from The University of Texas at Austin. During his previous career as an engineer with Union Pacific Resources, David was involved in developing and commercializing the horizontal drilling techniques that ultimately led to the US “shale revolution.” While in graduate school, he started an energy consulting business and worked for General Atlantic Partners, a global venture capital firm and early investor in SCF.
David’s civic activities include Greentown Labs, The Center for Pursuit, and Baylor College of Medicine, where he currently serves as Chairman of their Board of Trustees. In 2016, he and his wife Maire created “Pursuit for Those with DisABILITIES,” where they led 300 volunteers in a cross-country bicycle ride that raised $13M to help build a new state of the art campus for The Center for Pursuit. In 2018, he was awarded the Hoover Medal for his 30+ years of work supporting persons with disabilities. He also is the co-founder of Open Minds, and along with SCF colleague Andy Waite, is involved in Houston’s Energy Transition Initiative (“HETI”).
Mar. 30 | 7:30-9:30 a.m.
Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas
7:30-8:30 a.m. Breakfast and networking
8:30-9:30 a.m. Panel discussion
A shifting working world, office and retail vacancy rates, and rising mortgage rates were among the top headlines of 2022. Looking ahead to 2023, businesses are making short- and long-term strategic plans to protect their interests in light of potential uncertainty.
At the second of the three-series Business Outlook events, economic, academic, and industry experts will consider several key questions related to real estate as well as where are we in the economic cycle, what are the 2023 prospects for Texas’ economy, and how can businesses forecast industry fluctuations and gain competitive advantage?
Laila Assanie is a senior business economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. As a member of the Research Department’s regional group, she conducts research on regional economic issues, produces articles for various bank publications and contributes to the Dallas Fed’s website. Her other responsibilities include briefing the Bank’s president on regional economic conditions, coordinating the production of various economic updates and indicators for the Dallas Fed website and writing the Eleventh District Beige Book—the Bank’s survey of regional economic conditions. Assanie holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Northwestern University and a masters in economics and finance from the London School of Economics.
Heather McClure is responsible for nationwide structured finance executions on multifamily, single-family build-to-rent, industrial, retail, office, and hospitality properties at Walker & Dunlop.
Prior to joining Walker & Dunlop, Ms. McClure was Senior Vice President of Capital Markets at Behringer, an investment management firm. There, she structured, executed, and managed $1.9 billion in debt financings on 14,000 apartment units, 1,000,000 SF of office space, a large iconic hotel with mixed use, and foreign industrial and retail. Earlier in her career, she worked for PGIM and Goldman Sachs as an originator and underwriter respectively.
Ms. McClure serves as the Co-Chair of the Advisory Council for the Real Estate Finance and Investment Center at University of Texas. She also sits on the McCombs School of Business Foundation Board.
Sheridan Titman is a professor in the Department of Finance who holds the Walter W. McAllister Centennial Chair in Financial Services. He is also the director of the Energy Management and Innovation Center at UT. Titman took his Ph.D. at Carnegie Mellon University. His research interests include both investments and corporate finance.
The climate of fintech and crypto along with inflation, geopolitical instability, rising interest rates, and supply chain disruptions were among the top headlines of 2022. Looking ahead to 2023, businesses are making short- and long-term strategic plans to protect their interests in light of potential uncertainty.
At the third of the three-series Business Outlook events, economic, academic, and industry experts will consider several key questions related to fintech and crypto as well as where are we in the economic cycle, what are the 2023 prospects for Texas’ economy, and how can businesses forecast industry fluctuations and gain competitive advantage?
Phil Green serves as chairman and chief executive officer of Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. and Frost Bank. Green joined the Cullen/Frost organization in July 1980 and served in a number of managerial positions in the company’s financial division before being named chief financial officer in 1995, a position he held until 2015 when he was named president of Cullen/Frost. He became chairman and CEO in 2016.
During Green’s tenure at Frost, the company has become one of the nation’s 50 largest banks and has increased its common stock dividend for 27 consecutive years. At the same time, Frost has won numerous accolades for excellence and customer service, earning the most Greenwich Excellence Awards for service to business clients among banks nationwide for five consecutive years, and receiving the highest ranking in customer satisfaction in Texas in the J.D. Power U.S. Retail Banking Satisfaction Study for 13 consecutive years. Frost has also ranked highly in the American Banker/Reputation Institute Survey of Bank Reputations and Forbes magazine’s list of America’s 100 Best Banks.
Green currently serves as an executive board member of the San Antonio Chamber of Commerce and is the immediate Past Chair. He is a founding member of the Corporate Partners for Racial Equity. He sits on the Board of Directors and chairs the Investment Committee of the Southwest Research Institute and on the University of Texas at Austin Chancellor’s Council Executive Committee, McCombs School of Business Advisory Council, and the McCombs Scholars Program committee. As a member of the Board of Directors of The Tobin Center for the Performing Arts, Green serves as the vice chair and chair-elect. Green recently joined the University of Texas San Antonio Campaign Leadership Council and is a member of the Mid-Sized Bank Coalition where he is a former executive committee member. Green is a past member of the Executive Committee and Board of Trustees of the United Way of San Antonio and Bexar County. He previously served on the Federal Reserve Board’s Federal Advisory Council, serving the Fed’s 11th District.
Green graduated with honors from the University of Texas at Austin in 1977, earning a bachelor’s degree in accounting. Prior to joining Frost, he spent three years in public accounting with Ernst & Ernst. Phil and his wife, Sandy, have been married for 46 years and have six grown children.
Lorenzo Garza is Assistant Vice President in Banking Supervision at the Dallas Fed, where he oversees several teams responsible for bank surveillance, risk, and financial market briefings as well as contributing to important national initiatives such as large bank stress testing. Lorenzo joined FRB Dallas in 2009, earning his bank examiner commission before serving in various Director roles in Banking Supervision. For his contributions to the Fed, Chair Powell honored him with the William Taylor award, the Fed’s most prestigious honor for Banking Supervision. Previously, Garza worked at the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, Goldman Sachs, Scotiabank, and World Savings in risk management, capital management, commercial lending, and retail mortgage underwriting. He is a native Texan and alumnus of UTSA, NYU, Harvard Business School, and the Southwestern Graduate School of Banking.
Cesare joined the Finance Faculty at the McCombs School of Business in 2009. His primary research interest is in the area of corporate finance. His research includes work on corporate governance, executive compensation, credit rating agencies, small business financing, and the effects of social networks and cultural preferences on financial policies. His articles have been published in the top Finance journals, such as the Journal of Finance, the Journal of Financial Economics, and the Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis. He teaches corporate finance and valuations in the MBA program. Cesare holds a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from the Politecnico di Milano (Italy), and an MBA and Ph.D. in Finance from UCLA Anderson. He was a visiting professor at the Wharton School in 2012-2013. Before his Ph.D., he worked as a strategic management consultant at Booz Allen and Roland Berger in Italy, and as a summer intern at the United Nations in New York.
Lillian Mills joined the McCombs School of Business in 2006, and during the past 15 years, she has been a top-ranked researcher and a nationally renowned and award-winning classroom educator.
In 2019, Mills was the first recipient of the McCombs Undergraduate Amplify Award, a student-managed award designed to recognize faculty members who foster highly inclusive classrooms and improve learning outcomes. From 2011 to 2015, she served as chair of the Accounting Department, and since 2014, she has held the Beverly H. and William P. O’Hara Chair in Business.
Mills served as the Stanley Surrey senior research fellow at the U.S. Treasury Department in the Office of Tax Analysis and as an assistant and associate professor of accounting at the University of Arizona from 1997 to 2005. She also practiced professionally with two national CPA firms from 1981 to 1989.
