Insights

To ensure the product is appropriate for their defined risk and liquidity tolerance, we believe investors and their boards should be fully aware prior to investing of the various issues CD programs can present, including liquidity risk, low transparency to bank failure, high penalties for early withdrawal which may cause loss of principal and other factors. 

The U.S. municipal bond market has been impacted by the volatility of tight credit conditions, federal regulation and stimulus as much as, if not more than, other sectors. What makes state and muni markets unique is how much remains unknown relative to corporate markets about their ability to recover

Given the relative newness of these securities, we are not convinced that a real secondary market for the debt exists. A strong supply and demand in the secondary market is necessary to create the kind of liquidity we want to see for investments in our client portfolios. Currently, we don’t see either. If an investor in an extendible security wants immediate liquidity, we see a real potential for principal loss.

In the wake of the harsh spotlight thrown on structured finance’s role in the 2007-2009 financial crisis, much of the securitization landscape has been altered. While many structured investments fell out of favor, particularly private label mortgage-backed securities and collateral debt obligations, credit card-backed securities avoided most of the severe credit and ratings downgrades.