Buy side

Investors will be greeted Monday with an increase in supply with the new-issue calendar estimated at $6.488 billion, led by $1 billion-plus of GOs from Maryland in the competitive market.

The seasonal factors of a supply and demand mismatch, reinvestment needs and strong credit fundamentals, have opened a window of opportunity.

While only 12% to 15% of municipal bond trading volume is performed electronically, various market participants say the time to embrace new technologies is now.

Despite compelling yields and ratios, buyers continue to be selective. Even if rates stabilize, municipal investors will likely be cautious for some time, waiting for fund outflows to abate, strategists said.

Valuations look increasingly attractive relative to other fixed income asset classes, even as rising interest rates continue to weigh on the market, strategists say.

In the week ending April 13, investors pulled $5.526 billion from the funds, down from $7.227 billion of outflows in the previous week, ICI reported.

ESG investing has grown complex enough that it’s time we recognize what strategy or product is best suited for a given situation.

The second quarter should bring more opportunity and less volatility following the worst quarter in four decades, analysts said.

Investors pulled more from municipal bond mutual funds as the Investment Company Institute on Wednesday reported $4.786 billion of outflows, up from $4.459 billion of outflows in the previous week.

Raymond James has agreed to acquire SumRidge Partners, a fixed income market maker dealing in investment-grade and high-yield municipal bonds.

Nuveen is asking a judge to toss Preston Hollow Capital's defamation claims as a summer trial looms.

Lloyd Nemerever will lead portfolio management for the firm's municipal bond-focused separately managed accounts.

The 18-member group will be headed by Eric Scroggins, co-head of debt advisory and restructuring, and Bill Reisner, head of public finance investment banking.

A new report from Merritt Research Services looks at potential post-pandemic problems for big cities that rely on taxes from commercial real estate.

The UST selloff and rate fears spooked investors in January, but experts predict more opportunity and a stronger tone for munis in the remainder of the first quarter.

While opportunities exist, investors should still monitor economic and market developments as they search for value in the final weeks of the year, experts said.

The city’s timing is good as long as market demand for municipals, especially higher yielding paper, stays on track, municipal bond investors say.

Peter Delahunt, who spent 26 years with Raymond James, has been hired by StoneX to help build out its muni business.

The fund focuses on investment-grade state and local government debt funding sustainable development, including affordable housing, green spaces and hospitals.

Boston-based Breckinridge will partner with Harrington Cooper to specialize in investment grade fixed-income and ESG integration for investors in the UK, Ireland, Continental Europe and Japan.