Many of the biggest institutions that own municipal bonds beefed up their holdings last year as state and local government debt became something of a preferred asset.
The three cater heavily to retail investors through products like mutual funds, closed-end funds, money market funds, and separately managed accounts.
Vanguard Group overtook Franklin Templeton for the No. 1 spot among institutional holders, boosting its holdings by 28.2%, to $79.8 billion.
Vanguard runs 13 municipal bond mutual funds, plus six tax-free money market funds and a variety of retirement funds and other accounts.
Franklin Templeton slipped to number two, with a 13% increase to $70.4 billion. The firm runs dozens of mutual funds, including state-specific funds, and a handful of money market funds.
Nuveen leapfrogged
Chicago-based Nuveen is the undisputed leader in municipal closed-end funds, with nearly half the industry's assets. Nuveen runs more than 100 closed-end municipal funds with $34.9 billion in assets. The company's municipal bond mutual funds also grew to $16.14 billion.
