Noteworthy municipal finance and bond market news in March features the debut of a new muni fund from BlackRock, the retirement of Wells Fargo's Robin Ginsburg, IMTC inks two new partnerships and more.
Read on for a full recap.
BlackRock debuts high-yield muni fund
Last month, BlackRock Advisors LLC launched a 5.75% tax-exempt municipal interval fund for retail wealth clients known formally as BlackRock Municipal Credit Alpha Portfolio.
The fund offers three various classes for investors: an institutional class with the ticker MUNEX; class A with the ticker XMUNX; and class U with the ticker symbol MUNUX. The various classes, according to the
"We think that the interval fund structure is the best way to take advantage of inefficiencies in the high-yield market, from both a yield and total return perspective," Patrick Haskell, head of BlackRock's municipal bond group said in the release.
Crews & Associates hires new analyst
Crews & Associates, the Little Rock, Arkansas-based regional broker dealer firm, has hired Henry Goetze as an analyst for its capital markets team.
Goetze started with the firm on Jan. 8, bringing with him experience co-managing a $3 million student-led investment portfolio at the University of Arkansas. His current role sees Goetze specializing in financial analysis and due diligence to support the issuance of municipal bonds.
He enjoys playing guitar, golf and weightlifting.
IMTC announces two SMA partnerships in March
New York-based fixed income fintech firm IMTC announced two partnerships with investment management firms Franklin Templeton and T. Rowe Price for fixed-income separately managed accounts business ventures.
Franklin Templeton will adopt IMTC's platform to deepen its fixed income SMA products while also managing bond accounts more effectively and enhancing personalization and tax optimization strategies. "Over the next few years, we anticipate significant growth in the SMA space and we're excited to scale operations to fully capitalize on this promising opportunity," Michael Salm, senior vice president of fixed income at Franklin Templeton, said in a
Similarly, T. Rowe Price also announced it would
BLX Group in California names new CEO, other talent moves
BLX Group, an independent municipal consulting firm in Los Angeles, a subsidiary of Orrick, has tapped Sandee Stallings as its next president and chief executive.
Stallings, who has been managing partner and chief operating officer since June 2017, joined the Financial Services Group of Orrick, BLX's predecessor, in 1999 following the firm's acquisition of Dain Rauscher's rebate services practice. She has prior experience with the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas and Federal Reserve Board in Washington, D.C., in the late 1980s, conducting audits of bank holding companies and Federal Reserve branches respectively.
"Sandee's appointment marks a significant step forward in strengthening BLX's service offerings," Jenna Magan, partner and cohead of the public finance group at Orrick, said in a press release.
Other noteworthy changes at the firm include Nancy Kummer as chief operating officer, Jeff Higgins as chief solutions officer and Alan Bond as chief brand officer.
Payden & Rygel fund wins 2025 Lipper award
The privately owned global investment advisory firm Payden & Rygel announced that its Payden California Municipal Social Impact Fund (PYCRX) was named as winner of an United States LSEG Lipper Fund Award.
The firm's fund received the honors after being recognized in the category as the best performing over a 10-year period, investing in intermediate-maturity municipal bonds that carry a tax exemption for federal, state and local taxes for California residents.
"The 2025 LSEG Lipper Fund Awards are recognizing perhaps the most dramatic three-year period that the markets have seen in decades. Fund managers being recognized have steered their investors through a pandemic, a mild recession, rising geopolitical risks, skyrocketing inflation, and dramatic central bank intervention," Otto Christian Kober, head of Lipper Research at LSEG Data & Analytics, said in a press release.
Wells Fargo's Robin Ginsburg retires
Robin Ginsburg, group leader of Wells Fargo Government Bank's National Housing Group, retired on April 1.
Ginsburg's focus on the housing finance agency sector, and more specifically single-family and multifamily financings, spanned across her more than 40 years of experience in financial services as bond issuer, public finance banker and commercial banker.
"I am passionate about the important work we do in the HFA community and am proud and honored to have worked with so many wonderful and talented partners throughout my career," Ginsburg said in a
