Securitization

Outflows continue with the Investment Company Institute reporting $5.371 billion pulled from muni bond mutual funds in the week ending April 27. Exchange-traded funds saw inflows at $1 billion.

The municipal market was marked by some skittishness among investors on Tuesday as a new month gets underway.

Municipal returns in April were deeply negative, bringing the year-to-date figure to near 9% losses, the largest posted on the Bloomberg Muni Index since its inception in the 1980s.

Investors will be greeted Monday with a steep drop in volume, with the new-issue calendar estimated at $4.583 billion — less than half of this week's supply.

Investors pulled more from municipal bond mutual funds in the latest week, with Refinitiv Lipper reporting $2.875 billion of outflows, down from $3.548 billion of outflows in the previous week.

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.

Relative cheapness, wider spreads and underperformance in munis are providing better value, all set against a very solid and resilient credit background, analysts say, but supply is testing investor sentiment amid volatility.

Another swing in U.S. Treasury market pushes muni to UST ratios out long even cheaper.

The new-issue calendar tops $9 billion led by $3 billion taxable and tax-exempts from University of California Regents, a $1 billion plus healthcare deal from Michigan and $1.35 billion of GOs from Washington State.

Investors pulled more from municipal bond mutual funds in the latest week, with Refinitiv Lipper reporting $3.548 billion of outflows, down from $4.106 billion of outflows in the previous week.

The Investment Company Institute reported investors pulled $7.2 billion from municipal bond mutual funds, the largest figure since the outlier months of March 2020 when investors yanked $24 billion in two weeks.

The audit was brought on by the Internal Revenue Service in September 2021 in connection with Series 2013B bonds.

The significant cheapening of municipals in recent weeks continues to create headwinds for the overall tax-exempt market on a daily basis.

Investors pulled more from municipal bond mutual funds last week, with Refinitiv Lipper reporting $4.106 billion of outflows, bring the total to $22.3 billion of outflows year-to-date.

Like last week, supply for the new-calendar issuance is light at $4.804 billion with $3.182 billion of negotiated deals and $1.622 billion of competitive loans.

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.

Apollo will make an equity and credit investment that will significantly increase SWS’s underwriting capacity for municipal and corporate debt, as well as equity offerings, the firms said.

The March consumer price index offered little to deter the Federal Reserve from its aggressive plans, but markets saw it as a positive, having feared an upside miss.

With the Federal Reserve planning aggressive rate hikes and balance sheet reduction, Dec Mullarkey, managing director of investment strategy and asset allocation at SLC Management, discusses the Federal Open Market Committee meeting minutes, his analysis of the economy and what to expect going forward. Gary Siegel hosts. (33 minutes)