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Primary bond market

Muni underwriters off to blistering start, as most firms gain market share

ByAaron Weitzman
April 9, 2021 8:31 AM
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The top municipal underwriters accounted for $102.132 billion in 2,592 transactions in the first quarter of 2021 compared to $87.920 billion in 2,131 deals in Q1 of 2020.

BofA Securities led with $16.520 billion of deals, while Morgan Stanley moved up two spots to third and J.P. Morgan Securities LLC fell to fouth and Citi slipped to second. Of the top five, only Morgan Stanley and BofA Securities increased market share.

Seven of the top 15 firms gained market share year-over-year.

Stifel Nicolas & Co. and Robert. W. Baird both moved into the top 10, while Piper Sandler & Co. and Barclays fell out and dropped down to 11th and 13th, respectively.

BOA EARNS
Bloomberg News

BofA extends lead, increases market share

BofA Securities starts the year off on top of the underwriter rankings with a total of $16.520 billion in 111 transactions, 16.2% market share, up 3.7 percentage points from 12.5%, with $10.996 billion in 87 transactions in Q1 of 2020.
Citi
London, United Kingdom - February 03, 2019: Citi EMEA headquarters building at Canary Wharf. Citibank (Citigroup Inc.) is American investment bank founded 1988.
Lubo Ivanko/Lubo Ivanko - stock.adobe.com

Citi slips to second

Citi dipped to second place with $11.184 billion in 81 transactions compared with $13.064 billion in 95 deals, good for first place in Q1 of 2020. The firm saw its market share fall to 11.0% from 14.9%.
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Yong Lim

Morgan Stanley jumps up two spots

Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC finished Q1 2021 in third with $7.967 billion in 69 transactions, or 7.8% market share. The firm accounted for $6.026 billion, or 6.9%, market share in Q1 2020, good for fifth place.
JPMORGAN-NY
Pedestrians pass in front of a JPMorgan Chase & Co. office building in New York. Photographer: Christopher Lee/Bloomberg
Christopher Lee/Photographer: Christopher Lee/Bl

JPM moves down to fourth

J.P. Morgan Securities saw its ranking slide as it garnered $7.696 billion in 83 transactions with 7.5% market share from $8.898 billion and 10.1% in the first three months of last year.
RBC Drops As Profit Misses Estimates For Fourth Straight Perio
The Royal Bank of Canada logo is displayed on a sign at their headquarters building in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on Wednesday, Aug. 25, 2010. Royal Bank of Canada declined after it reported profit that missed analysts' estimates for the fourth straight quarter as trading revenue plunged 93 percent. Photographer: Norm Betts/Bloomberg
Bloomberg News

RBC rounds out top five

RBC Capital Markets moved one spot lower to fifth, finishing the quarter with $5.758 billon and 5.6% market share in 139 issues, less than the $6.367 billion or 7.2% share of the market accross 128 deals in Q1 of 2020.
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Rounding out the top 10

Stifel Nicolas jumped up to 6th from 11th with a par amount of $5.441 billion and 5.3% market share, Goldman Sachs moved up one spot to 7th with $5.159 billion and saw increased market share to 5.1% from 4.3%.

Wells Fargo Securities with $4.633 billion (4.5% market share) moved up to 8th from 9th, Jefferies dipped three spots to 9th with $4.338 billion and Robert W. Baird moved into the 10th spot, up from 13th with $3.589 billon and a 3.5% share of the market.
Aaron Weitzman
Markets Reporter , The Bond Buyer
Primary bond market Rankings Bank of America Citigroup Morgan Stanley J.P. Morgan Securities
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