Joseph Fichera
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Financial services, Investment banking |
| Founded | 2000 |
| Founder | Joseph Sebastian Fichera, William B. Moore |
| Headquarters | New York , United States |
Key people | Joseph Sebastian Fichera (CEO) |
| Products | Public advisory services, securitization bond market advisory |
| Website | www |
Joseph Sebastian Fichera is a prominent American executive specializing in investment banking and financial services. He serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Saber Partners, LLC, a public advisory firm he helped establish in 2000. Before founding Saber Partners, Fichera held senior leadership positions at notable Wall Street institutions such as Smith Barney, Harris Upham & Company, Prudential Securities, and Bear Stearns & Co., where he was appointed managing director and principal.
Fichera is credited with developing share-adjusted broker-remarketed equity securities (SABRES), designed as an alternative to auction rate securities. He is widely acknowledged as an authority on auction rate securities and has acted as an expert consultant to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Moreover, he provided counsel to California Governor Gray Davis during the electricity crisis that occurred in California between 2000 and 2001.
Early life and education
Born in Rochester, New York in 1954, Fichera grew up in a family where his father worked as a bookkeeper and his mother was a hairdresser. His grandfather immigrated from Sicily in 1910. During his youth in Rochester, he actively participated in efforts toward school desegregation and represented students on the local Board of Education. Awarded a full scholarship, he attended Princeton University, earning an A.B. degree from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs in 1976 with a senior thesis focused on state-level politics and budgeting.[1] Following a political appointment at the Department of Housing and Urban Development under President Jimmy Carter, he completed an M.B.A. at the Yale School of Management in 1982.
Career
Fichera launched his finance career at Morgan Stanley Wealth Management (formerly Smith Barney), where he developed expertise in the auction rate securities market. In 1987, he secured ExxonMobil as a client, advising on methods to reduce interest expenses by adjusting rates on tax-exempt debt instruments. During this period, he pioneered share-adjusted broker-remarketed equity securities (SABRES) to serve as an alternative to traditional auction rate securities. ExxonMobil executed a $750 million transaction, marking the largest variable preferred stock issuance at that time. He rose to Vice President of Corporate Finance before transitioning to Bear Stearns & Co in 1989 as director of corporate finance, subsequently joining Prudential Securities.
In 2000, Fichera co-established Saber Partners in New York with William B. Moore, former CEO of Westar Energy. The firm’s initial clientele included ExxonMobil and the State of California. Saber Partners concentrated on the securitization bond market valued at $40 billion for ratepayer bonds utilized to finance power utilities. Fichera successfully persuaded the UK's Financial Services Authority to classify these bonds as government-guaranteed debt, which allowed their issuance at lower interest rates in European markets compared to U.S. markets. His work extended to collaborations with regulators across various states such as Wisconsin, Texas, and Florida.
During the 2000-2001 California electricity crisis, Saber Partners joined forces with The Blackstone Group to advise Governor Gray Davis on strategies for acquiring transmission lines owned by investor-controlled utilities. This initiative involved planning bond issuances up to $33 billion aimed at stabilizing utilities and preventing insolvency. As a strong critic of auction rate securities, Fichera also acted as an expert advisor during the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s 2006 inquiry into auction bidding practices, which culminated in a $13 million settlement involving 15 banks.
Fichera advocates for greater transparency within securities markets, especially regarding corporate securitized and asset-backed debt instruments. In a 2014 op-ed published by The New York Times, he recommended implementing an SEC points-based system similar to a DMV model to more effectively penalize repeat violations beyond monetary fines.
Recognized for his expertise in auction rate securities, Fichera is regularly quoted by leading financial media outlets including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Bloomberg Businessweek. He has also delivered lectures at Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. In April 2018, he was honored with The National Italian American Foundation Special Achievement Award in Finance for his impactful contributions to corporate finance.[2]