Secondary bond market

Debate over taxables, climate, ESG, possible infrastructure bill hang over 2020.

While issuance is seen rising, not all analysts think it's a smart move to do taxable refundings.

Municipal bond issuers say investors, analysts and regulators should narrow down the information they are looking for in their push for more disclosure.

The muni market strengthened, following treasuries, as yields continued to drop.

With demand at an all-time high and record inflows that is continuing to come into the market, one would think there would be more issuance.

A mixture of taxable and tax-exempt deals priced into a market flush with cash. Muni yields continued to descend, as they moved three basis points lower today.

Large taxable deals fare well while gilt-edged Delaware yields track in line with AAA benchmarks in competitive deal.

After returning north of 7% in 2019, the municipal bond asset class continues to see strong returns so far in 2020.

The two active municipal bond insurers insured $5 billion more in 2019 than they did in 2018 thanks to a surge of issuance in the fourth quarter. Assured Guaranty and Build America Mutual combined for $23.92 billion of insured volume spanning 1,724 transactions and 5.67% penetration rate in 2019. That is up from $18.92 billion in 1,249 deals and 5.58% insured rate in 2018.

Although municipal bond volume is expected to rise by almost $2 billion, it won’t be nearly enough to satisfy investors’ thirst for the asset class.