Debtwire Radio

Pricing services veteran JR Rieger discusses with Debtwire reporters Caitlin Devitt and Kathie O'Donnell how he and two other industry vets are forming a trade association to standardize how municipal bonds in the often-illiquid secondary market are valued. Evaluating and pricing muni bonds is “becoming more of a science, as it should be, and less of an art,” said Rieger, who publishes the Rieger Report LLC and previously worked in S&P’s pricing and index services. Rieger said the association, named for now the Global Association of Securities Pricing Analysts, will be aimed at pricing services vendors as well as pricing analysts at buy- and sellside firms, across securities markets. Accurately valuing municipal bonds, particularly in high-yield sectors that are generally illiquid, has always been challenging and becomes more difficult during economic downturns like the one that sparked turmoil in the muni market in March. Yong Lim, the Debtwire Municipals desk editor, is the moderator of the podcast.