Patrick McGee

Municipal bonds are at some of their cheapest levels, relative to Treasuries, in market history. The problem is, most muni buyers don’t care.

Muni investors have herded into short-term debt the last few months thinking that if rates rise, longer-term bonds will plummet in value and it will be good to have cash on hand to reinvest at higher rates. But are short-term bonds really such a safe haven?

Municipal bond mutual funds in the period ending Feb. 9 saw heavy withdrawals for the 13th consecutive week.

The municipal bond underwriter and brokerage house hope the tandem will generate broader appeal for investors.

Issuers in four states have ­accounted for nearly half of the $164 billion of Build America Bonds issued since the ­program’s inception 19 months ago. Municipal market participants say the lopsided ­distribution should be a consideration for investors, but for others the unbalance has limited value in measuring the program’s success.

The company cited $1.6 billion of debt as of June 30.

RBC Capital Markets plans to announce Wednesday that Francisco Gonzalez has joined its municipal finance group to focus on large issues.

Goldman, Sachs & Co. was founded in 1869 but only this week will the firm begin targeting the mainstream retail-buyer base for municipal bonds.

The new municipal underwriting group at U.S. Bancorp Investments continues to expand its ranks, adding Leon Bijou as the group's in-house legal counsel last week and securing Bill Bingham to oversee fixed-rate trading this fall.

Issuance of Build America Bonds fell precipitously last month, but overall volume still managed to outpace market issuance in July 2009, according to preliminary data from Thomson Reuters.

Thomas G. McLoughlin is stepping down from his role as president and chief executive officer at National Public Finance Guarantee Corp. to join UBS Financial Services as head of its municipal research division.

The discount broker-dealer for investment advisers has launched an electronic platform that it hopes will appeal to investors in the municipal market.

Citi and Bank of America Merrill Lynch continue to vie for the top underwriting position in the municipal bond industry, according to mid-year rankings from Thomson Reuters.

As the buyer base for Build America Bonds continues to expand, Fitch Ratings has created a website so investors unfamiliar with the municipal market can visit a "one-stop shop" for all BAB-related research.

JPMorgan, consistently one of the top municipal bond underwriters, has been responding to increased appetite in the market recently by expanding its retail networks, marketing taxable munis for international distribution, and bulking up its public finance staff.