Markets

A difficult May in the municipal bond market has put investors on the defensive.

Roberto Roffo, a 20-year asset management veteran, has joined Advisors Asset Management as a senior vice president and portfolio manager as the firm plans to enhance its tax-exempt management initiatives.

Slowly rising Treasury yields and modest activity are pulling muni yields higher as the day's trading session crossed the halfway point.

The municipal market had little momentum to propel it forward to start the week.

Investors pulled more money from municipal bond mutual funds than they have all year as funds that report flows weekly recorded outflows of $1.47 billion for the week ending June 5.

Muni money funds continue to struggle to recoup the billions they lost this year — particulary around income tax season — and the arrival this week of $411 million is not much of a boost.

Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management unveiled two exchange-traded funds Tuesday that are the first devoted entirely to infrastructure revenue bonds and regulated utilities.

Michael K. Farr, president of Farr, Miller & Washington, delivers a yield kick to his savvy retail clients via market inefficiencies in the secondary market to offset the lack of return in the plain-vanilla market.

Note season will get underway this week with a $1 billion sale of tax and revenue anticipation notes from Los Angeles County, while the commonwealth of Massachusetts will also sell $1 billion of general obligation debt amid more than $5 billion of expected new volume.