The Bond Buyer's 2025 Infrastructure Report
The Bond Buyer’s 2025 Infrastructure Report surveyed 104 municipal finance investors and sell-side experts, as well as issuers and public-sector professionals, on a variety of topics including primary infrastructure areas for investing, influences on financing outlooks for 2026, market fluctuations and more.
Top findings from the report- Forty-two percent of experts think resilient investments are unlikely.
- Bond deals disclosing climate risks were the most worked on in the last year.
- P3 deals are slated to be more popular over the next five years.
- Many respondents worry about the demise of FEMA and funding losses.
The Bond Buyer's exclusive research is highlighted in the interactive charts below. Mouse over each section for more detail, and click on the chart labels to show or hide sections. This item is part of a series diving into new data from The Bond Buyer, so check back for the latest updates.
This item is the end of a series diving into new data from The Bond Buyer. Click the links below to read the previous research items.
- Part one:
Can municipalities meet their funding needs in 2025? - Part two:
Where is the state of infrastructure heading next in 2026?
A flood of pessimism
More than one-third of respondents expressed pessimism over whether state and local governments would invest in resilient infrastructure, which is defined as projects aimed at mitigating severe weather-related events.
Six percent of professionals said they were "very pessimistic" about investments into resilient infrastructure over the next five years, while 36% said they were "mostly pessimistic" about investments.
Thirty-nine percent, the largest group, were "equally optimistic and pessimistic," 16% were "mostly optimistic" and 4% were "very optimistic" about state and local governments investing in resilient infrastructure projects.
Key takeaway: More than one-third of respondents were pessimistic about whether state and local governments will invest in resilient infrastructure over the next five years.
Trendy deals
Over the past year, bond deals disclosing climate risks in offering documents have reigned as the top deal type that respondents have worked on.
Forty-five percent of professionals surveyed said they have worked on such deals, while 41% said the opposite and 14% stated that these deals are not applicable to their businesses.
Public-private partnerships (P3) saw a slight shift in the breakdown, as 40% said they have worked on such deals over the last 12 months, against 46% who said they have not. Fourteen percent responded that these deals aren't applicable to their businesses.
Lastly, 30% of respondents said they've worked on deals that specialize in addressing resilience and adaptation; 55% said they did not. The share of those who abstained for business relevance reasons rose slightly, to 15%.
Key takeaway: Bond deals that disclose climate risk have been the most popular for municipal finance professionals over the last year.
Shifting tides
Over the next three years, municipal finance professionals plan to include more deal types in their portfolios.
Twenty-two percent of respondents said they definitely plan to work on P3 deals sometime within the next three years, followed by 21% who said it's a high likelihood and 26% who said maybe. Fifteen percent said they have no plans to work on P3 deals, while a combined 16% said this category doesn't relate to their business or they are unsure.
When asked about bond deals that specialize in addressing resilience and adaptation, 6% of respondents said, "yes, definitely," 24% said "yes, probably," and 28% said "maybe." Twenty-four said they would not plan to work on resilience-addressing deals. A combined 18% were unsure about their firm's direction or have no business reason to engage in these deals.
In instances where climate risks are mentioned in offering documents, 19% of respondents said they definitely plan to work on these deals sometime in the next three years, while 25% said "yes, probably" and 13% said "maybe." Twenty-two said "no," and a combined 20% were unsure about their firm's direction or have no business reason to engage in these deals.
Key takeaway: Many market professionals plan to take on new deal types over the next three years.
The eye of the FEMA storm
The future of FEMA is uncertain, and a majority of municipal finance professionals are convinced that it won't survive this current administration.
Three percent of respondents said it's a "definite certainty" that FEMA will be eliminated, 21% said it's "highly likely" and 29% stated it's "somewhat likely." Twenty-seven percent said the likelihood of FEMA being unwound is "somewhat unlikely," while 16% said "very unlikely" and 4% were certain that it will "definitely not happen."
Understandably, a similar breakdown was found when respondents were surveyed about their level of concern over the potential elimination of FEMA. Twenty-eight percent were "very concerned," 25% were "concerned," 20% were "a little concerned," and 27% were "not concerned" at all.
The top three worries about the potential dismantling of FEMA include the loss of resource coordination for natural disasters, at 46%, funding burden for aftermath of natural disasters shifting to state governments, with 45%, and the funding burden shifting to local governments at 43%.
Key takeaway: The likelihood of FEMA being dismantled has market professionals worried about shrinking funding sources and the disaster-recovery burden that would be placed on state and local governments.
