Investor demand for bond insurance remained strong throughout the first three quarters of 2024 as the quantity of debt wrapped by bond insurance rose 26.8% year-over-year.
Municipal bond insurers wrapped $28.921 billion in the primary three quarters of 2024, a rise from the $22.814 billion insured in the primary three quarters of 2023, in keeping with LSEG data.
The industry par amount was achieved in 1,217 deals versus 995 deals in Q1-Q3 2023.
Each insurers saw year-over-year growth. Bond insurance for Assured and BAM rose 16.2% and 44.5%, respectively.
Assured Guaranty accounted for a complete of $16.599 billion in 561 deals, accounting for 57.4% of the market share, in comparison with $14.289 billion in 464 deals for a 62.6% market share in the primary nine months of 2023, in keeping with LSEG data.
That is the second highest primary market par that Assured Guaranty has insured within the last decade throughout the first three quarters, said Robert Tucker, senior managing director of investor relations and communications at Assured Guaranty.
In the primary three quarters of the 12 months, Assured insured 33 deals with $100 million or more in insured par, led by $1.1 billion of insurance for the Brightline Florida passenger rail project, $800 million for the Latest Terminal One at John F. Kennedy Airport and $831 million for a Dormitory Authority of the State of Latest York school district revenue bond issue, he said.
The firm also increased its insurance amongst AA credits from Moody’s and S&P, Tucker said.
“This 12 months, we also had a rise in the usage of our insurance amongst AA credits, year-over-year, we insured 16% more policies and 25% more in par for the primary nine-months for a complete of 74 policies (20 of which were throughout the third quarter) and roughly $3.5 billion of insured par,” Tucker said.
Meanwhile, Construct America Mutual insured $12.322 billion in 656 deals, or 42.6% of the market share. That’s up from $8.525 billion in 531 deals, or a 37.4% market share, in the primary three quarters of last 12 months, in keeping with LSEG data.
BAM’s total primary market par amount of $12.322 billion throughout the first nine months of this 12 months is larger than the full par amount in all of 2023, said Michael Stanton, head of communications and spokesman for Construct America Mutual.
The firm insured 23 new-issue sales with par of $100 million or more in the primary nine months of 2024, compared with 18 in all of 2023, and “we’re seeing underwriters utilize partial insurance on larger transactions to capture specific demand, like $95 million of insured par for the Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia that was part of a bigger sale,” he said.
BAM also insured $2.8 billion of municipal bonds with public underlying rankings within the double-A category or stronger from Moody’s or S&P, in keeping with Stanton.
Growth from each firms was predicated on strong demand and interest, especially from institutions.
“We benefited from greater overall issuance and powerful investor demand for our insurance, including from institutional investors on some very large infrastructure transactions,” Tucker said.
The firm continues to offer “meaningful financing cost savings for issuers and extra protection for investors in a time of geopolitical uncertainty and increasingly unpredictable environmental conditions,” he said.
Meanwhile, BAM saw “strong demand for insurance from a wide selection of investors on a various mixture of credits, which is driving very strong results,” Stanton said.
Strong institutional investor interest, he said, continues to drive insurance utilization on larger and higher-rated deals.
With the usage of bond insurance, Tucker said, “issuers save on borrowing costs and investors have protection and security when unexpected circumstances arise, together with the opposite advantages of our guaranty, including strong market liquidity and potential market value support.”