Blake joined SouthState | DuncanWilliams in 2022 and has more than 25 years of investment and banking experience. He currently serves as Senior Vice President – Fixed Income Sales. Prior to working at SouthState | DuncanWilliams, Blake served as designated principal and Director of Capital Markets Sales for a bankers’ bank. Blake began his career at two separate community banks where he served as a lender, investment portfolio manager and an ALCO Committee chair. Blake is a third-generation community banker.

Blake’s responsibilities at SouthState | DuncanWilliams include advising banks on investment strategies, portfolio management, purchases and sales of fixed income securities, and asset/liability management. Blake holds his Series 52 (Municipal Securities), Series 53 (Municipal Securities Principal), Series 63 (State) and Series 72 (General Securities) licenses.

Blake provides educational content as a writer and speaker for several state and regional banking associations and banking programs. Topics covered include economics, bond math, government/agency debt analysis, mortgage-backed securities analysis, municipal and corporate securities analysis, asset/liability management, and investment portfolio optimization. Blake has served as a lecturer at Southwestern Graduate School of Banking at SMU since 2012 and Graduate School of Banking at Colorado since 2018.

Blake received his bachelor’s degree in Economics from Washington and Lee University in Lexington, VA. He received his MBA from Cornell University in Ithaca, NY.