OpenYield Markets Podcast

In this episode of The OpenYield Markets Podcast, host Mark Hebert sits down with the czar of macro credit strategy Peter Tchir, Head of Macro Strategy at Academy Securities, a 30-year Wall Street veteran known for connecting Fed policy, market structure, and geopolitics to actionable trading strategies.

Peter breaks down what’s next for the Fed as Powell enters his final meetings, why he trusts jobs data more than headline GDP, and why alternative inflation indicators like Truflation suggest the Fed may be tighter than it needs to be. The conversation also introduces Peter’s framework for the next cycle: “Production for Security” (ProSec) - the push to rebuild domestic production capacity across energy, critical minerals, and semiconductors.

Topics Include:

- Whether Powell cuts again
- CPI vs. real-time inflation data
- The next Fed Chair
- Why the administration may push for lower rates and a weaker dollar
- ProSec investing

🔔 Subscribe for more episodes featuring leaders shaping the future of fixed income.

In this episode of The OpenYield Markets Podcast, host Mark Hebert sits down with The Nomad of Fixed Income, Christopher Brigati, Chief Investment Officer & Managing Director at SWBC, a highly respected voice in the municipal and broader fixed-income market.

With more than 25 years of experience including senior roles at Valley National Bank, Advisors Asset Management, and Morgan Stanley, Chris shares a practitioner’s view of today’s macro landscape: stretched valuations, Fed uncertainty, geopolitical risk, and potential cracks forming in munis, corporates, and equities.

The conversation covers:

• Why markets keep grinding higher despite rising macro uncertainty
• Fed pivots and the split emerging inside the FOMC
• Munis: soaring issuance, weakening rainy-day funds, and tax-equivalent yields
• Equities: AI-driven valuations and why small/mid-caps may be the overlooked trade of 2025

Chris shares personal insights, including his favorite golf course, his go-to drink, and his S&P 500 prediction for the end of 2026.

🔔 Subscribe for more episodes featuring leaders shaping the future of fixed income and modern market structure.

In this episode of the OpenYield Markets Podcast, host Mark Hebert sits down with Nick Gendron, Global Head of Fixed Income Index Product at Bloomberg - and an influential figure in the history of bond indexing.

From his early days at Lehman Brothers and Barclays to his leadership role at Bloomberg, Nick walks us through how fixed income indices have evolved over the past 30 years - from trader-priced benchmarks to the data-driven, transparent systems that define today’s market.

Topics covered:

• The foundational purpose of bond indices and why transparency and representation are non-negotiable.
• The rise of BVAL as the “gold standard” in bond pricing - and how it transformed index accuracy.
• The launch of Bloomberg’s U.S. Total Fixed Income Market Index - a first-of-its-kind benchmark designed to capture the entire U.S. bond market, spanning investment grade, high yield, loans, and eventually structured credit - all under a single umbrella.
• The growing role of private credit, and how index providers are preparing to capture this opaque market segment.
• How Bloomberg balances innovation and stability while pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in fixed income analytics.
  
  Nick also shares personal insights, including his thoughts on market innovation, his approach to leadership, and even his favorite golf course.

In this episode of The OpenYield Markets Podcast, host Mark Hebert sits down with Miguel Jaques and Daniel Dyulgerski, co-founders of Terrapin, a Scotland-based startup rethinking how reference data is built and delivered in fixed income markets.

With backgrounds spanning multi-asset portfolio management and machine learning research, the Terrapin founders explain how they’re using fine-tuned LLMs, rigorous OCR pipelines, and automated QA to achieve ~99% automation in extracting and maintaining municipal bond reference data. Together, they explore:

• What “reference data” actually means and why it underpins analytics, settlement, and trading
• Why Muni bonds, with their scale and complexity, became the perfect use case for AI
• How incumbents still rely on armies of manual typists—and why automation changes the cost base
• Building infrastructure that keeps LLMs accurate at scale
• Why flexible APIs, fast feature rollouts, and lower costs win clients from Goliaths

🔔 Subscribe for more episodes to gain insights from leaders shaping the future of fixed income trading.

In this episode of The OpenYield Markets Podcast, host Mark Hebert sits down with Tim Jennison — a 20-year Morgan Stanley veteran, former head of EMEA Credit Sales, and global capital markets leader at BCG.

Dubbed “The James Bond of Credit,” Tim shares stories and insights from a career spanning crisis-era trading floors, international leadership, and large-scale consulting engagements. Together, they explore:

• Turning rejection into a two-decade Wall Street career
• Why client-centric beats product-centric banking
• Balancing leadership with staying close to clients, using data to uncover true profitability, and building a culture that asks for the business
• Making technology and AI productivity gains truly count
• Measuring digital transformation by results, not hype

If you’re a trader, consultant, banking leader—or simply fascinated by the intersection of markets, leadership, and technology—this is a conversation you won’t want to miss.

🔔 Subscribe to be notified when new episodes are released

In this episode of The OpenYield Markets Podcast, host Mark Hebert sits down with Kevin Lynyak, a 20-year Morgan Stanley veteran as well as Managing Director and portfolio manager for taxable strategies on Parametric’s fixed income team.

Dubbed “The Vince Lombardi of Credit,” Kevin shares lessons from a career spanning crisis-era trading, market structure innovation, and the rise of advisor-led SMAs. The conversation covers:

🔹 Kevin’s pioneering work in odd-lot and algorithmic credit trading
🔹 The rise of tax-loss harvesting and muni strategies in retail portfolios
🔹 How financial advisors think about duration, volatility, and preferreds
🔹 Private credit's growth—and whether it resembles pre-2008 leverage risk
🔹 AI adoption on the desk and what it means for modern trading workflows
🔹 Macro outlook: Fed policy, tariffs, deficits, and where the market may go next

If you're a trader, advisor, asset allocator, or just someone passionate about where fixed income is heading, this is a conversation you don’t want to miss.

🔔 Subscribe for more episodes: insights from leaders shaping the future of bond markets.

In this episode of OpenYield Markets Podcast, host Mark Hebert sits down with Matt Smith, founder and CEO of Spline, to explore how machine learning, real-time data, and modern infrastructure are transforming the municipal bond market.

Founded in 2022, Spline is a fintech company redefining fixed income analytics with a focus on municipal bonds. The firm delivers high-frequency secondary market pricing, live yield curves, and predictive analytics for new issue pricing — all updated every five minutes, even across the odd-lot space. Matt shares how his experience at Headlands Tech Global Markets led him to identify gaps in the Muni ecosystem and build a platform engineered to solve them.

Topics covered in this episode include:

• Why Muni yield curves are harder to model than treasuries — and how Spline tackles the challenge
• The role of odd-lot data in identifying market tone and liquidity stress
• How Spline’s real-time curves compare to traditional sources like MMD
• The importance of inference and forward-looking data in predictive analytics
• Why customer success — not just raw data — is key to Spline’s nearly zero churn rate
• Reflections on market volatility, from COVID to recent rate moves, and how Spline models held up
• The future of electronification in Munis and the limits of automation in a market with no shorting and minimal hedging
• Why the MCDX index failed — and what it says about liquidity, structure, and trade interest in municipal credit

Matt also discusses the meaning behind the name “Spline,” how customer education is central to their product strategy, and why illiquid assets may be the next frontier beyond Munis.

If you're a trader, portfolio manager, fintech builder, or market enthusiast looking to understand where municipal finance is headed and how data science is shaping its future - this episode is essential listening.

In this third episode of the OpenYield Markets Podcast, host Mark Hebert is joined by Mark Rieder, Chief Investment Officer at LaMar Assets and author of Reminiscences of a Bond Operator, a book that’s quickly becoming a must-read on credit desks across the industry. Known for his sharp market instincts and decades of experience in both public and private credit, Rieder brings a rare combination of macro perspective and micro-level credit acumen to the conversation.

The two Marks dive into the state of today’s fixed income markets, drawing parallels between the current volatility and past dislocations like the global financial crisis—while also pointing out what makes this cycle uniquely dangerous. Rieder discusses how tariffs, government spending cuts, and a fatigued consumer are converging to create a market backdrop unlike anything we've seen before.

They explore how passive credit flows are distorting price signals, why liquidity can disappear just when it’s needed most, and why some investors may be overestimating the resilience of private credit markets. Rieder also shares his framework for identifying attractive entry points in credit, emphasizing the importance of being a liquidity provider when others are forced to sell.

The conversation turns tactical as the two explore sector themes, including stress in travel and leisure, potential tailwinds in utilities and energy infrastructure, and the role of AI in driving demand for data center-related credits. Rieder also lays out his “tariff playbook” and explains how smart investors can build portfolios positioned for resilience amid policy-driven volatility.

Whether you’re managing institutional capital or simply navigating your own investment strategy, this episode is packed with honest insights, historical context, and practical tools for thinking through today’s credit market challenges.

If you want to understand what seasoned credit professionals are watching right now, this is an episode you won’t want to miss.

In this episode, Mark Hebert sits down with Chad Wildman, the Head of Quantitative Strategies at FMS Bonds. Chad, who has been dubbed the "Albert Einstein of Municipal Bonds," shares his journey from academia to Wall Street, providing insights into how quantitative strategies are transforming municipal bond trading.

Chad discusses his innovative models for profitable bond trading, the challenges of hedging in the Muni market, and the evolution of liquidity and automation. He also dives deep into the differences between municipal and corporate bonds, offering a unique perspective on the future of bond trading.

Join us as Chad breaks down complex concepts into actionable insights for both industry veterans and newcomers alike. Whether you're in fixed income trading or simply curious about the future of municipal bonds, this episode offers valuable lessons and cutting-edge knowledge.

Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more episodes of the OpenYield Markets Podcast!

In this inaugural episode of OpenYield’s Monthly Markets with Mark, host Mark Hebert dives into the evolving landscape of fixed income automation with two pioneers in the field, Marty Mannion and Matthew Schrager. Both co-heads of TD Automated Securities, they share their insights into the transformative impact of automation on fixed income markets.

Marty and Matt's journey into automation started in the municipal bond market, where they saw an opportunity to address inefficiencies through technology. They explain how they built the foundation of Headlands Securities, which would later be acquired by TD, and discuss the challenges and advantages of automating fixed income markets, especially in comparison to faster, more centralized markets like equities.

They delve into the role of latency, liquidity, and technology, noting how automation is catching up in fixed income. They highlight how recent regulatory changes and advancements in automation are driving market efficiency, resulting in reduced friction and costs for both institutional and retail investors. This trend has significantly improved liquidity, especially for retail clients, who now have better access to fixed income markets.

The discussion also touches on the future of retail involvement in fixed income markets, with innovations like apps and platforms making bond trading more accessible to the average investor. Marty and Matt emphasize the importance of educating retail investors and building infrastructure to support their participation.

As the conversation shifts to the integration of voice and automated trading, they share how TD is handling various trading formats, including ETFs, RFQs, and voice trading, and how these synergies enhance market liquidity and efficiency.

Finally, they explore the potential for change in the primary market, which has traditionally been slow to evolve, and discuss how advances in technology and transparency could bring new opportunities for both issuers and investors.

Marty and Matt are excited about the future of automated fixed income markets and the role of new players in accelerating innovation. They conclude by reflecting on the progress made and the long journey ahead, stressing the enormous potential of the fixed income space in the coming years.