Christine Albano is a reporter in the Investor’s & Investing beat, which she has covered for the past two decades. She has a wide range of buy side sources in the municipal market and has covered trends affecting retail investors, institutions, municipal mutual funds, tax-exempt money market funds, and the high-yield beat. She has also written about some of the industry’s biggest issues, such as historic defaults in Orange County, Calif., Puerto Rico, and Jefferson County, Ala., as well as the collapse of the variable-rate demand market. In addition, she reported on the subsequent 2008 financial crisis, and the death of municipal bond pioneer Jim Lebenthal. She provided next day coverage of the impact on the municipal bond market of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, and recently interviewed The Vanguard Group Inc. founder, former chief executive officer, and investment guru John C. Bogle about the best investing advice for the municipal market.
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Spreads on underwriting municipal bonds dipped to below $4 per $1,000 on issues in the first half of 2022 due to heavy competition and a shrinking volume of deals — the lowest figures reported in two decades.
August 15 -
The Investment Company Institute reported investors pulled $246 million out of muni bond mutual funds in the week ending July 27 compared to the $602 million of outflows in the previous week.
August 3 -
Investors pulled $698.782 million out of municipal bond mutual funds, per Refinitiv Lipper data, versus the $206.127 million of inflows the week prior. High-yield saw small inflows.
July 21 -
Primary market takes focus for large revenue deals from the New York State Thruway Authority and the Colorado Health Facilities Authority.
July 13 -
After 40 years in the municipal bond industry — 35 of them at American Century — Steve Permut left the California-based mutual fund firm on June 30 for retirement.
July 8 -
Elizabeth Funk is the new managing director of institutional sales and trading in the municipal underwriting group amid a wave of recent new additions. Natalie A. Brown has taken over as CEO.
July 1 -
A new-issue supply-focused buy-side had their sights on the $8 billion-plus flowing into the primary market this week, while municipal traders remained cautious, keeping an eye on bid-wanted lists in the secondary market.
June 28 -
Investors will be greeted Monday about $6.4 billion of new issuance led by triple-A Georgia general obligation bonds and Los Angeles notes.
June 17 -
The 75 basis point hike, prompted partly by hotter-than-expected inflation data, is the largest since 1994.
June 15 -
The 25-basis-point move to higher yields is the largest one-day change in triple-As since March 2020 when COVID began roiling markets. Munis could not ignore a continued selloff in UST led by inflation and recession concerns.
June 13 -
Hardy Manges brings three decades of experience in municipal trading to the national, full-service investment bank, brokerage and advisory firm.
June 9 -
The seasonal factors of a supply and demand mismatch, reinvestment needs and strong credit fundamentals, have opened a window of opportunity.
June 3 -
After nine months of a soft closure, two Nuveen high-yield mutual funds will resume accepting purchases from new investors in the face of improved market conditions.
May 27 -
Several major technicals are beginning to improve in the muni market, said Burt Mulford, portfolio co-manager of fixed and strategic income at Eagle Asset Management.
May 24 -
On the buy-side, weakness, outflows, supply issues, and poor liquidity are making life challenging for municipal bond investors. The same could be said for issuers.
May 17 -
Valuations look increasingly attractive relative to other fixed income asset classes, even as rising interest rates continue to weigh on the market, strategists say.
May 12 -
Munis again outperformed U.S. Treasuries. Participants note that municipal to Treasury ratios and nominal yield levels are “extremely attractive,” which is generating some renewed interest among the retail crowd.
May 6 -
Investors pulled more from municipal bond mutual funds in the latest week, with Refinitiv Lipper reporting $2.669 billion of outflows, though down from $2.875 billion of outflows in the previous week.
May 5 -
In the week ending April 13, investors pulled $5.526 billion from the funds, down from $7.227 billion of outflows in the previous week, ICI reported.
April 27 -
Investors pulled more from municipal bond mutual funds in the latest week, with Refinitiv Lipper reporting $3.548 billion of outflows, down from $4.106 billion of outflows in the previous week.
April 21
