Salient to Investors: The dwindling role of bond insurance and yields at four-decade lows is fueling demand for muni analysts. Paul Sorbera at Alliance Consulting said the demand has significantly raised salaries. Jeff Burger at Standish Mellon Asset Mgmt said basis points matter in a low-yield environment. Investors have become more confident buying uninsured or lower-rated debt.
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Bill Gross at Pimco has more than doubled holdings of municipal debt sold in New York to give his fund its biggest investment in local securities in 6 years. Joe Deane at Pimco said New York’s pension system is one of the nation’s healthiest, with 94 percent of the assets needed to
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Brokers and dealers cut their inventory of US muni bonds in Q3 to the least since Q1 2004. Investor demand for munis has faltered. Investors are looking to unload more than $1 billion of the debt, the most in two years. David Manges at BNY Mellon Capital Market said investors are
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Bill Gross at Pimco recommends avoiding longer-term Treasuries because of steps to boost the economy. Guy Davidson at AllianceBernstein said longer bonds have much more downside than upside, and recommends switching to the 10-yr to 15-yr maturity range. The median economist expects the Fed to continue to buy Treasuries at
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Morgan Stanley and Municipal Market Advisors says investors should prepare for the first year of muni-bond losses since 2008 Bank of America Merrill Lynch says munis have earned 20 percent since the start of 2011, the best two-year run since 2001. The median analyst expects 10-yr T-bond yields to rise
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: The extra interest rate paid by municipalities over companies has fallen 76 percent in 2012, the most since at least 1994, and the smallest since July 2009. Investors typically seek more yield from muni than from corporates because munis trade less frequently and feature annual financial disclosure instead of quarterly
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Lower-rated issuers are benefiting as sinking yields spur investors to stomach more risk. Debt sold by Illinois issuers is rallying the most in 20 months despite a warning that the state’s pensions may run out of money and drain funding from education, infrastructure and local aid. Moody’s
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