Southwest in a nutshell: a record year amid the coronavirus pandemic
March 2, 2021 10:52 AM
The Southwest's 2016 record for volume was shattered in 2020
Municipal bond issuers in the Southwest, despite the pandemic — or perhaps in part because of the conditions it created — set a record for annual issuance. At $93.5 billion, the region's 2020 volume, as measured by Refinitiv, blasted past the 2016 record of $83.4 billion and was up 18.1% compared to 2019.
Remaking the way business is done, on the fly
Without conferences and with personal contact limited, bankers and advisors had to ply their skills through Zoom and other video meeting media and don masks in group settings. “We found we could quickly adapt, working from home, and we used the technology pretty efficiently,” said David Medanich, head of public finance at Hilltop Securities.
Taxables and refunding deals told much of the tale
In the Southwest, a 154% increase in taxable issues and a 73% rise in refunding drove much of the volume in 2020. “In my view, the vast increase in taxable issuance volume would not have occurred and likely led to so many advance refundings, if not for the environment created by the pandemic in 2020,” said Ajay Thomas, head of public finance for FHN Financial.
Lone Star State sits alone on top
Municipal bond sales volume in Texas showed the largest gain of any state in the region, up 34.5% to $59.5 billion, representing 62% of all bond sales in the Southwest.
Bloomberg News
RBC topped underwriting table in a crowded contest
RBC Capital Markets edged Citi to claim the top spot among the region's underwriters, credited by Refinitiv with $7.6 billion of business over 212 issues.
Grand Parkway Transportation Corportation
Grand Parkway was tops in a year full of large transactions
The Houston-area toll loop took the grand prize with the Southwest’s largest single deal of 2020, in a year that was heavy with transportation issues, particularly airports and toll roads. Transportation volume in the region rose 92% to $17.6 billion. The Grand Parkway sold its $2.3 billion deal in February.
Third quarter tops among four strong quarters
Despite the market's hiccups after the extent of the coronavirus pandemic became clear in mid-March, volume in the Southwest was strong all year en route to the record.
