Municipal Bond Portfolio Management

Municipal bonds serve as the bedrock asset class for high-net-worth and income-oriented investors. Low historical default rates and tax-exempt interest make municipal bonds and ideal security for your “mattress-money” allocation.

That said, with over one million municipal securities outstanding1, ever-changing credit trends, and divergent tax regimes, investing in today’s municipal bond market requires specialized and customized portfolio management. Since 1984, our disciplined approach to municipal bond portfolio management has protected clients’ assets in good markets and bad.

Bernardi relies on a proven municipal bond portfolio management process founded on the following:

  • Separate Account Management– Tailored portfolios designed around particular investment parameters in order to enhance income. Bonds are directly owned, controlled, and the portfolio is actively managed.
  • Value-Oriented StrategyWe target out-of-favor, or relatively uncovered credits, and generally utilize a laddered portfolio structure to reduce the impulse of market timing. Total Return and Goal-Based strategies are available, as well.
  • Credit Analysis– Bottom-up credit analysis serves as the foundation of the portfolio management process. This helps mitigate credit risk and reduce portfolio turnover.  The philosophy is known as our Three Pillars of municipal credit research.
  • Client Choice– Selection of either fee-based or transaction-based cost structures. The transaction-based payment structure enables direct access to Bernardi Securities new issues, without annual fees. Nor are there markups on new issues, as the issuance cost is paid for by the issuer, not the investor.  
  • Performance Driven– We strive to outperform market benchmarks.

Municipal Bond Portfolio Management Overview
A summary of the Bernardi Securities approach to active municipal bond portfolio management.
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  1. Source: http://www.msrb.org/msrb1/pdfs/MSRB-Muni-Facts.pdf