National Outlook

Market Intelligence analyst Jeff Lipton distills what he heard onstage and in the hallways at The Bond Buyer's 2026 National Outlook, from policy uncertainty and the muni tax exemption to AI's growing role and credit risk hotspots.

Photos from The Bond Buyer's annual National Outlook Conference.

Some Northeast issuers are searching for new borrowing strategies to cope with added costs and federal funding cuts. 

Currently, munis are largely operating "in their own world" — ignoring rich valuations and upcoming supply, said Kim Olsan, senior fixed income portfolio manager at NewSquare Capital, in a report.

Muni SMAs now hold an estimated $1.3 trillion in assets under management across around 180 managers, per J.P. Morgan. Meanwhile, ETF muni holdings are at $163.1 billion, up 22.4% year-over-year, as of the third quarter of 2025, according to the latest Federal Reserve data.

Belvia Gray, Public Finance Leader at Baker Tilly, talks about the firm's efforts and focus on bringing the industry together on cyber security threats, succession planning and more.

The public finance industry is addressing cyber threats, which became clearer with last year's hack of White Lake Township's bond closing.

With eye-popping infrastructure needs, market participants discussed how this will influence issuers' plans, from demand to disclosure.

Photos from The Bond Buyer's annual National Outlook Conference.

"Our job is to take that volatility, figure out what's noise, figure out what's reality, and lean into the opportunities as we see them," said Alex Petrone, director of fixed income at Rockefeller Asset Management.

Photos from The Bond Buyer's annual National Outlook Conference.

A majority of those polled at The Bond Buyer's 2024 National Outlook Conference also felt issuance would increase moderately this year, to between $400 billion and $450 billion.