Buy side

Investors have yet to reward green bonds with better pricing, but there is growing demand for the niche, according to one speaker at the Bond Buyer’s California Public Finance conference.

Two new municipal, high-quality, AMT-free ETFs launched by VanEck Global this week offer flexibility for both conservative and yield-oriented investors, and are listed on Bats Global Markets Inc., the Kansas City-based exchange for ETF trading.

A Bond Buyer slideshow pairs charts of key interest rate related metrics with comments from municipal analysts and strategists, as policy makers again meet to consider whether to lift the benchmark rate a second time eight years after the financial crisis.

Green municipal bond issuance increased by almost half in 2015, with water infrastructure making up the biggest chunk of the bond sales, according to a new report.

The weekly average yield to maturity of The Bond Buyer Municipal Bond Index, which is based on 40 long-term bond prices, increased four basis points to 3.80% from 3.76% in the previous week.

The rapid increase in refundings for public power and water utilities will likely slow as interest rates are expected to rise through 2018, according to Fitch Ratings. Moody's Investors Service sees a stable operating environment amid low natural gas prices.

Many of the largest state pension plans averaged less than 1% returns for the fiscal year ended June 30, most likely leading to a national trend of depressed funding ratios and increasing pressure on states to fund those pensions, S&P Global Ratings said Monday.

Jefferies said it received good demand for the $292.26 million of tobacco settlement pass-through bonds it priced for the New York Counties Tobacco Trust VI.

Muni bond broker Matthew Picerno, who perished in the 9-11 attacks on the World Trade Center, had a larger than life personality that was evident at his job at Cantor Fitzgerald, and within his family and home life.

In the week ended Sept. 8, the weekly average yield to maturity of the Bond Buyer Municipal Bond Index rose two basis points to 3.76% from 3.74% in the previous week. The BB40 Index is based on the price of 40 long-term bonds.