The Muni Lowdown

On the latest episode of the Debtwire Municipals Muni Lowdown podcast, Managing Editor Paul Greaves and Curation Editor Stephanie Fagnani speak with Cooper Howard, fixed income strategist at Charles Schwab about federal policy and the muni market.

Cooper provides his thoughts on the “question marks” surrounding federal policy initiatives on the municipal market such as tariffs.

The discussion shifts to Cooper highlighting municipal sectors most sensitive to federal policy shifts.

Cooper segues the discussion into the potential hurdles that private higher education may have to overcome.

The podcast closes with Cooper discussing what municipal credits may consider to maintain credit quality despite the numerous challenges.

#federalpolicy #tariffs #inflation #muniland #highereducation #ports

On the latest episode of the Debtwire Municipals Muni Lowdown podcast, Managing Editor Paul Greaves and Curation Editor Stephanie Fagnani speak to Cybersecurity Content Specialist Bradley Barth about municipal bond issuers grappling with cyberattacks

Bradley provides his thoughts on whether in-house expertise is enough or if security programs necessitate collaboration with a third-party vendor.

The discussion shifts to Bradley highlighting the potential advantages/disadvantages to working with a third-party vendor.

Bradley then segues into whether an organization’s vulnerability is correlated with the size, sector or ability of the municipal bond issuer to afford cybersecurity expertise.

Bradley moves on to identify the different types of cyberattacks and whether victims should pay.

Bradley discloses “best practices” for a municipal bond issuer around incident response and the quality of public disclosures.

The podcast closes with Bradley discussing his thoughts on the potential efficacy of implementing a federal data breach law.

#cybersecurity #ransomware #databreaches #muniland #cyberattacks

On the latest episode of the Debtwire Municipals Muni Lowdown podcast, Managing Editor Paul Greaves speaks with Debtwire North America Credit Analyst John Sinna on the latest developments with Hawaiian Electric and Edison International.

The podcast covers the situations in the aftermath of wildfires for Hawaiian Electric and Edison International by “comparing and contrasting” where things stand by delving into five (5) topics.

The first topic discussed is how governance has been handled in each situation. John discusses the actions taken by Hawaii Governor Josh Green and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.

The second topic discusses legislative efforts in Hawaii and California.

The third topic details the litigation against Hawaiian Electric and Edison International because of the wildfire damages.

With the fourth topic, John segues into possible responses by the insurance market from a national perspective as well as specifically in Hawaii and California.

The podcast closes with John discussing his near-term expectations in each situation.

#insurance #power #IOUs #muniland #risk

On the latest episode of the Debtwire Municipals Muni Lowdown podcast, Managing Editor Paul Greaves and Curation Editor Stephanie Fagnani speak with Senior Research Analyst Dr. Erika Smull of Breckinridge Capital Advisors on pricing climate risk.

Dr. Smull initiates the discussion by explaining the concept of “benchmark aware” in the context of municipal bond investment strategies.

The conversation shifts to the resiliency of the municipal market in the face of catastrophic weather events and the availability of quality information to make climate risk assessments.

Dr. Smull transitions to the role supply and credit quality, as well as whether private insurance and federal disaster aid will remain as readily available moving forward.

Dr. Smull discusses the current state of climate risk disclosure.

The discussion turns to an example of “climate induced stress” in detailing the events of Clyde, TX.

The podcast closes with Dr. Smull discussing whether the market is getting closer to a climate risk premium and how Breckinridge assesses climate risk.

#climaterisk #muniland #pricingrisk #riskpremium #catastrophicevents

On the latest episode of the Debtwire Municipals Muni Lowdown podcast, Managing Editor Paul Greaves and Curation Editor Stephanie Fagnani speak with Andrew Flynn, managing director of California Municipal Advisors about the municipal market.

Andrew provides a brief overview of his role as a municipal advisor.

The discussion shifts to Andrew sharing his “tree analogy” that explains his financial advisory approach with public sector clients.

Andrew then segues into his view of muni market health now and what level of concern he has around the increasing frequency and intensity of climate risk events.

The conversation turns to Andrew’s perspective on the recent ratings actions by S&P Global Ratings with the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.

Andrew transitions into how he advises his public sector clients to contemplate and address pension fund liabilities.

The podcast closes with Andrew offering his contrarian perspective on challenges that “places of growth” (California, Texas, Nevada, Arizona, etc.) will face during an economic downturn.

#muniland #climaterisk #pensions #economy #municipaladvisors

On the latest episode of the Debtwire Municipals Muni Lowdown podcast, Managing Editor Paul Greaves speaks with Senior Reporter Simone Baribeau on the performance of proton therapy centers backed by municipal bonds.

Simone provides a brief overview proton therapy technology. She then delves into the advantages and disadvantages of proton therapy vs traditional radiation.

The discussion shifts to Paul highlighting the major hurdles to success for proton therapy centers: technology; viability and reimbursement.

Simone then segues towards the defaults and bankruptcies that have occurred due to the intrinsic challenges to developing successful proton therapy center operations. The conversation shifts towards selected proton therapy centers around the country.

Simone transitions to the action states have taken to address reimbursement hurdles.

The podcast closes with Simone providing quick updates on certain proton therapy centers in the construction pipeline across the country.

On the latest episode of the Debtwire Municipals Muni Lowdown podcast, Managing Editor Paul Greaves speaks with Head of Muni Research Greg Clark and Curation Editor Stephanie Fagnani about the evolving evaluation of wildfire risk and municipal bonds.

Stephanie kicks off the podcast by providing a report on the extent of the damage, the initial cost estimates and the current status as it remains an ongoing situation.

The discussion shifts to Paul providing observations by market participants on how risk assessments for municipal could change in wildfire zones and what makes California a unique situation.

The podcast closes with a segue to Greg who provides a comprehensive overview of how various municipal bond sectors are impacted by just having to navigate wildfire damage, as well as the insurer and government received. He then provides a concise definition of why lease revenue bonds and similar structures could face additional risk, as it is a borrowing tool frequently used by local governments in California, as well as the state.

On the latest episode of the Debtwire Municipals Muni Lowdown podcast, Managing Editor Paul Greaves speaks with Reporters Simone Baribeau and Adrian Espallargas about Puerto Rico.

Simone kicks off the podcast highlighting recent developments in the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority restructuring.

The discussion shifts to recent actions by the Financial Oversight and Management Board by Simone. Adrian jumps in with thoughts on what it would take for the board to be dissolved.

Adrian and Simone explore the potential policy and political implications on Puerto Rico due to the results of the presidential election.

The podcast concludes with Adrian providing some perspective how the gubernatorial results in the commonwealth will influence the PREPA restructuring, the relationship with the oversight board and other policy issues.

#PuertoRico #PREPA #restructuring #ElectionDay

On the podcast, Managing Editor Paul Greaves speaks with Dr. Peter Adriaens, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Michigan and Curation Editor Stephanie Fagnani on water utilities, weather risk and investor demand.

Dr. Adriaens kicks off the podcast by a brief overview of the article he contributed to that was published a couple of months ago in the Environmental Science & Technology Journal.

The conversation turns to increasing frequency of catastrophic storms, floods and drought and the subsequent impact on how investors view risk related to water utilities.

The discussion shifts to whether floods or droughts are viewed as being more high risk by investors, which then segues into a discussion about the role of geography in this assessment.

The podcast concludes with how water utilities can mitigate the increased risks posed by floods and drought.

#waterutilities #flood # drought #saltwaterintrusion #creditrisk #investordemand #municipalmarket

On the latest episode of the Debtwire Municipals Muni Lowdown podcast, Managing Editor Paul Greaves speaks with Debtwire North America Analyst John Sinna, about the latest developments with Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc.

The podcast begins with John providing a summary of the key events that have occurred in the past year.

John then highlights the key issues that remain unresolved as of September 2024.

The conversation shifts to a discussion of the global settlement that was announced by Hawaii Governor Josh Green approximately a month ago. Currently, the insurance companies are holdouts to this settlement. John offers his perspective as to whether this deal can be consummated without buy-in from the insurers.

John provides an explanation for how insurance subrogation claims work and discusses whether the insurance market can function effectively without this. There is currently litigation under consideration in Hawaii as to whether subrogation claims will be allowed to proceed.

John moves the discussion to whether insurers would consider moving out of the Hawaii market.

Finally, John provides his view on the next important milestone and potential scenarios to play out.

#restructuring #insurance #muniland #electricity