MarketAxess Holdings has launched its first-ever portfolio trade for tax-exempt municipal bonds. This Portfolio Trading for Tax-Exempt Munis tool, executed earlier this month between a major bank and a prominent asset manager, allows clients to trade diversified baskets of tax-exempt municipal bonds.
Efficiency in Municipal Bond Trading
According to the press release, clients can send lists to multiple counterparties or a single dealer under the new offering, negotiating price improvements in a single transaction. The tool supports manual loading of portfolio trades and straight-through-processing via their order management systems.
Once loaded, clients have instant insights into changes in portfolio metrics and the overall market value. This capability reportedly allows for quick, informed decisions on portfolio composition and pricing. Additionally, during negotiations, clients can counter or remove individual line items to achieve optimal execution.
MarketAxess has been rapidly growing as an electronic marketplace for municipal bonds. Last month, the electronic trading platform accounted for 8.1% of the estimated market share of municipal bonds, up from 5.6% the previous year, with an average daily volume of $577 million.
MarketAxess' Trading Volumes
In March, MarketAxess reported record-breaking trading volumes for February. The electronic trading platform had a total credit average daily volume (ADV) of $15.2 billion, an increase of 5.1% from the previous year. This positive trend was boosted by positive performance across several key sectors.
The electronic marketplace posted a record US high-grade ADV of $7.7 billion, an expansion of 14.6% year-over-year. In emerging markets, ADV rose 12.5% to $3.6 billion. Eurobonds ADV climbed 9.1% to $2.0 billion, while municipal bonds ADV surged 8% YoY to $434 million.
Despite the overall positive results, US high-yield ADV dropped 37.1% to $1.4 billion. This decline was attributed to lower credit spread volatility and a greater focus on new issue calendars by long-only clients.
Meanwhile, MarketAxess appointed Ilene Fiszel Bieler as its Chief Financial Officer in February, replacing Christopher Gerosa. Bieler has a wealth of experience from her tenures at State Street Global Markets and Barclays, among others.
