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Tag Archives: Rieger Report

Jan 15, 2018

Rieger Report: Municipal Bond ETFs – 10 Years of Growth

The first Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) tracking municipal bonds were launched in September 2007. Since then the municipal ETF market has grown to 40 ETFs representing over $30.5billion in assets under management. Municipal Bond ETF Market Snap Shot: 40 ETFs all but one represents tax-exempt municipal bonds. There is one ETF tracking taxable municipal bonds….

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Dec 21, 2017

Rieger Report: Munis Show Their Power in Low Rate Environment

The 2017 low interest rate environment has created a wonderful example of the power of tax-exempt bonds. On a nominal return basis, investment grade corporate bonds tracked in the S&P 500 Investment Grade Corporate Bond Index have outperformed tax-exempt bonds tracked in the S&P National AMT-Free Municipal Bond Index. By considering the tax implications, using…

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Oct 15, 2017

Rieger Report: Will Pressure on Property & Casualty Companies Impact the Bond Markets?

This Fall has been a difficult time for property & casualty companies.  The fires in Northern California have destroyed thousands of homes and the relentless string of hurricanes have damaged parts of Texas, Louisiana, Florida, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. If these companies need to sell fixed income assets to offset liabilities they…

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Aug 19, 2017

Rieger Report: Munis with Equity Like Returns!

Sectors of the boring municipal bond market have seen equity like returns in 2017. However, it is the downtrodden segments of the muni market in the last several months of 2016 that have created the opportunities to generate these “equity like returns.” The S&P Municipal bond Tobacco Index, down over 6.7% in the last three months of 2016  has recorded a total return…

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Apr 9, 2017

Rieger Report: State G.O. municipal bonds have underperformed

Overall, general obligation bonds have underperformed revenue bonds over the last five years  of low rates.   State general obligation bonds have been the sector that is holding back returns as the lower yield and shorter duration characteristics of these bonds have resulted in muted returns in the up market. While revenue bonds have a larger foot print by par…

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Mar 27, 2017

Rieger Report: Why foreign investors like U.S. municipal bonds

A trend that has been catching attention is purchases of U.S. municipal bonds by foreign investors.  A terrific summary was recently published by VanEck’s Michael Cohick and that can be found by clicking here. As that research points out, the Federal Reserve data on foreign investor holdings has jumped to end 2016 at $106 billion.  That…

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Jun 26, 2016

Rieger Report: U.S. Bond Safety Valve for Brexit Hangover

Thursday’s Brexit vote and subsequent market reactions have helped push U.S. bonds higher as investors continue to seek shelter from volatility and the uncertainty of what the future holds for the global economy. While the S&P 500 Index has seen a decline of over 2.7% in June, the 10 year U.S. Treasury Bond has returned over…

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Jun 13, 2016

Rieger Report: Muni Market’s own “Lunar” Calendar

The municipal bond market is a huge and diverse segment of the bond markets.  Part of the ‘lore’ of the muni bond market has been that the summer months of the year create a natural increase in demand for municipal bonds.  It turns out there is a basis behind this ‘lore’. Using the broadest municipal bond index…

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Jun 12, 2016

Rieger Report: Energy Sector Helps Drive Market

The recent oil price rally has pushed the energy sector upward in both the equity and bond markets. In the second quarter so far, the S&P 500 Energy Index (equity) has returned over 9.1% in total return and the S&P 500 Energy Corporate Bond Index has returned over 7.3%.  Meanwhile, the broader indices have seen more modest returns: the S&P 500 Bond Index (the debt…

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May 22, 2016

Rieger Report: Puerto Rico munis see a bounce (last gasp?)

The rocky road that is the Puerto Rico municipal bond market continues.  Last week’s bi-partisan Puerto Rico Restructuring Bill also referred to as the ‘rescue bill’ has created a reason for the bond market to react positively.  There are ramifications to the ‘rescue bill’ however including potentially eroding bondholder (creditor) provisions for repayment.  Meanwhile, bondholders of the Puerto…

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