Rankings

The top municipal bond counsel saw $265.58 billion of business in the first three quarters of 2019, more than the $237.49 billion the firms did in the same period last year.

The two active municipal bond insurers benefited from the issuance boom in the third quarter, as the industry penetration rate rose slightly despite the fact that interest rates are going back down.

Following suit with the issuers and underwriters, top muni financial advisors were outpacing business done to this point last year with $224.84 billion, up from $206.93 billion. The first three spots in the rankings remained the same for the big players, as the rest of the field saw a bevy of changes.

Through three quarters municipal bond issuers are coming to market more frequently than they did during the same period of 2018, as low rates and yields are too good to pass up and demand for muni bonds is closing in on an all-time high.

Municipal underwriters saw increased business, as demand for muni bonds jumped through the roof. Top muni underwriters accounted for $267.51 billion in 7,310 deals, up from $239.33 billion in 6,406 transactions in the first nine months of 2018.

Unlike the other first half rankings, top municipal underwriters counsel have done less business so far this year to what they did in the first half of 2018. Underwriters counsel totaled $104.89 billion in 1,622 transactions compared to $106.76 billion in 1,614 deals. Similarity to the bond counsel rankings, the leader remained that way while the rest of the rankings were muddled.

The top municipal bond counsel rankings were all mixed up from how they looked a year ago, with the exception of Orrick, which remained on top.

The two active municipal bond insurers are currently outpacing their output year-over-year in terms of industry penetration rate, par amount insured and number of transactions. Assured Guaranty and Build America Mutual have combined for $9.69 billion of insured volume spanning 798 transactions and 5.8% penetration rate so far in 2019, up from $9.06 billion in 625 deals and 5.5% insured rate the two achieved during the first six months of 2018.

The top municipal bond financial advisors are almost running on the same pace as they were last year in terms of par amount. So far in 2019 they have accounted for $137.44 billion throughout 3,512 transactions, slightly up from the $137.20 billion in 3,344 deals in the same time period the year before. The top three spots remained the same, with the Public Financial Management Group extending its lead.

California retained its top spot in total volume, but New York State dominated with deal size, with two deals in the top five and five in the top 10.

The top municipal bond underwriters have outperformed their 2018 first halves in both volume and transactions year over year.

The top muni bond counsel firms accounted for $74.79 billion in 1,783 transactions in the first quarter of 2019, up from $61.46 billion in 1,655 deals a year earlier. Although overall business was up, most of the top firms didn't quite achieve higher totals than they had during the same time last year.

PFM, Acacia and Piper move up in FA rankings, as deal volume handled by the top firms rose 18.6% from last year's depressed level to $64.32 billion.

Municipal bond insurers are running close to last year's clip through the first three months of 2019, as the two active insurers wrapped $3.61 billion in 288 transactions. That compares with $3.61 billion 257 deals during the same period last year. The insurance penetration rate dipped to 4.8% from 5.9% at the end of the first quarter of last year.

The top muni underwriters counsel rankings were all shaken up, as business spiked to $48.69 billion from $41.94 billion at this point last year.

California finds itself in a familiar spot, with the most muni issuance through the first three months of the year. The rest of the rankings show a mix of usual suspects and new faces.

Municipal underwriters jockey for position as business increased 21.9% from the first quarter of last year.

The region's 2018 new money bond sales were up 2% year-over-year, but refundings fell 57%.

The surge in gas deals couldn’t overcome the region’s sharp decline in refundings, which led to an overall 22.6% volume decline.

Refunding volume in the Midwest was down 57% in 2018, while new money deals rose just 1.8%, leaving the region down more than 28%.