Municipal bond arbitrage

Municipal bond arbitrage

Municipal bond arbitrage, also called municipal bond relative value arbitrage, municipal arbitrage, or just muni arb, generally consists of building a leveraged portfolio of high-quality, tax-exempt municipal bonds and simultaneously hedging the duration risk in that municipal bond portfolio by shorting the equivalent taxable corporate bonds. These corporate equivalents are typically interest rate swaps referencing Libor Libor#LIBOR-based derivatives or BMA (short for Bond Market Association). Muni arb is a relative value strategy that seizes upon an inefficiency that is related to government tax policy; interest on municipal bonds is exempt from federal income tax. Because the source of this arbitrage is artificially imposed by government regulation, it has persisted (i.e., it has not been "arbed away") for decades.

The arbitrage manifests itself in the form of a relatively cheap longer maturity municipal bond, which is a municipal bond that yields significantly more than 65% of a corresponding taxable corporate bond. The steeper slope of the municipal yield curve allows participants to collect more after-tax income from the municipal bond portfolio than is spent on the interest rate swap; the carry is greater than the hedge expense. Positive, tax-free carry can reach into the double digits.

The bet in municipal bond arbitrage is that, over a longer period of time, two similar instruments--municipal bonds and interest rate swaps--will correlate with each other; they are both very high quality credits, have the same maturity and are denominated in U.S. dollars. Credit risk and duration risk are largely eliminated in this strategy. However, basis risk arises from use of an imperfect hedge, which results in significant, but range-bound principal volatility. The end goal is to limit this principal volatility, eliminating its relevance over time as the high, consistent, tax-free cash flow accumulates.



Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Municipal Bond Arbitrage — Municipal bond arbitrage, also called municipal bond relative value arbitrage, municipal arbitrage, or just muni arb, generally consists of building a leveraged portfolio of high quality, tax exempt municipal bonds and simultaneously hedging the… …   Wikipedia

  • Municipal Bond Arbitrage — A strategy that consists of building a portfolio of tax exempt municipal bonds and simultaneously hedging the duration risk of the portfolio through the short sale of equivalent taxable corporate bonds of the same maturity, generally interest… …   Investment dictionary

  • Municipal bond — Financial markets Public market Exchange Securities Bond market Fixed income Corporate bond Government bond Municipal bond …   Wikipedia

  • Arbitrage — For the upcoming film, see Arbitrage (film). Not to be confused with Arbitration. In economics and finance, arbitrage (IPA: /ˈɑrbɨtrɑːʒ/) is the practice of taking advantage of a price difference between two or more markets: striking a… …   Wikipedia

  • bond — A certificate or evidence of a debt on which the issuing company or governmental body promises to pay the bondholders a specified amount of interest for a specified length of time, and to repay the loan on the expiration date. A long term debt… …   Black's law dictionary

  • bond — A certificate or evidence of a debt on which the issuing company or governmental body promises to pay the bondholders a specified amount of interest for a specified length of time, and to repay the loan on the expiration date. A long term debt… …   Black's law dictionary

  • Convertible bond — Financial markets Public market Exchange Securities Bond market Fixed income Corporate bond Government bond Municipal bond …   Wikipedia

  • Negative Arbitrage — The opportunity lost when municipal bond issuers assume proceeds from debt offerings and then invest that money for a period of time (ideally in a safe investment vehicle) until the money is used to fund a project, or to repay investors. The lost …   Investment dictionary

  • List of finance topics — Topics in finance include:Fundamental financial concepts* Finance an overview ** Arbitrage ** Capital (economics) ** Capital asset pricing model ** Cash flow ** Cash flow matching ** Debt *** Default *** Consumer debt *** Debt consolidation ***… …   Wikipedia

  • Outline of finance — The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to finance: Finance – addresses the ways in which individuals, businesses and organizations raise, allocate and use monetary resources over time, taking into account the risks… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”