Buy side

Municipal bond mutual fund inflows returned as Refinitiv Lipper reported investors added $672.288 million for the week ending Wednesday following $256.532 million of outflows the week prior.

Federal Reserve data shows that retail ownership of municipals rose $58.8 billion, or 3.7% quarter-over-quarter, to $1.67 trillion. Bank ownership fell in the first quarter by $13.3 billion.

Reinvestments, which includes maturities, called bonds and coupons, total over $114 billion over the next four months, according to ICE Data.

"Ultimately, the case for fixed income generally, and munis specifically, is much stronger today than it was a year ago," said Nick Vendetti, municipal bond fund portfolio manager with Allspring Global Investments.

Brightline's luxury train in Florida accounts for half of the Nuveen High Yield Municipal Bond Fund's top 10 positions.

Despite legislation and political rhetoric, demand for environmental, social, and governance focused debt remains strong.

JPMorgan's move to acquire First Republic and its muni portfolio eases the risk of nearly $20 billion of munis flooding the market.

While Nuveen is a storied and well-respected institution in our business, it did not define John Miller.

Except for the riskiest sectors, high-yield credit fundamentals appear to be strong, but rising interest rates and fund outflows are dampening primary and secondary market activity.

James Pruskowski, a nearly 30-year veteran of BlackRock, will be CIO and head of business development for 16Rock Asset Management LLC, a newly formed affiliate of 16th Amendment Advisors LLC.

Illinois' $2.45 billion GO sale should attract a wider investor audience with the higher ratings as the state seeks to raise new money for capital projects, fund ongoing pension buyout programs, and refund some debt for present value savings.

A John Miller-less speculative bond market may mean more diversification and price transparency, say some investors.

The announcement came as a global settlement agreement that resolves Preston Hollow Capital LLC's litigation against Miller and Nuveen was disclosed.

The publicly offered tax-exempt debt product is new for the firm and the collateralized debt obligation structure may be one of the first for the market since the 2008 financial crisis.

Ceffalio is taking on a newly created position at the Chicago-based firm.

After "carnage" in 2022, a munis should see a "positive environment" this year, according to analysts.

The value of the municipal bond market decreased by 4.3% in the third quarter of 2022, said Pat Luby, a strategist at CreditSights.

2022 saw rising rates, low issuance, massive fund outflows and overall volatility.

Nearly 20% of respondents to a HilltopSecurities high-yield team survey ranked liquidity and equity as their major concern for 2023.

Secondary selling pressure was concentrated most heavily on the one-year Tuesday, but sellers pushed yields higher across the curve by five to seven. Bids wanteds were on the rise again with Monday's total hitting $2.122 billion.