Restructured debt has often outperformed the broader municipal bond market as issuers emerge from bankruptcy with higher debt-servicing capacity.
Liquidity could remain challenged, but valuations may be attractive for long-term investors.
We expect policy will continue to drive municipal bond markets in 2018, if more constructively than in 2017. Municipal investors may remember 2017 as the year of unrealized policy fear. While the threat of tax reform and its potential to reduce the value of the muni exemption for retail investors loomed large, ultimately it had little impact on individual municipal bonds.
An active approach to the complex, fragmented municipal bond market may help investors avoid several common drawbacks of passive strategies.