(New York)

Investors beware, the muni bond market has gone through some dramatic moves over the last year, and the market looks like it might be headed for a downturn. Changes to the US’ tax policy have caused massive inflows to muni bonds as investors try to minimize their taxes. This has caused yields to plunge and spreads to Treasuries to widen. The average ten-year muni yield is now just 1.965% versus 2.6% in 10-year Treasuries, the widest gap since at least 2009. Munis in high tax states have plunged even further, with a recent California issuance having a yield of just 1.73%. One portfolio manager warns investors that they need to be responsive, saying “The best place for investors to be is shorter duration, higher-quality credit, so when opportunities present themselves, they have the flexibility to take them … You can’t really set it and forget it”.

FINSUM: This is a hard situation to call. On the one hand, the rapid fall in yields is worrying and the market seems overbought, but on the other hand, you have somewhat artificial demand being created by the government, which makes the behavior less risky and more sustainable in our view.