More #MuniLand issuers than ever are communicating directly with buyers through investor relations (IR) websites and attracting stronger demand as a result. We believe this is a great step forward, and we’re confident it’s improving transparency and efficiency in our market.

As more investors continue to consume information through these digital channels though, it’s important to recognize that issuers are no longer only competing with other securities. They’re now battling for investor attention that’s dominated by news sites, social media channels, and countless other distractions on the internet. 

That’s why we’ve put special attention toward finding ways to engage with investors when they’re signaling an incredible amount of purchase intent on muni-specific websites. We’ll admit, it hasn’t been easy, but the results are very promising.

Back in April, we proudly announced our research collaboration with Fidelity Investments. Fidelity is an incredible investment management company whose platform allows individual investors to place orders for municipal bonds in either the primary market or the secondary. Our collaboration gives retail investors using Fidelity direct access to data and financial information for the issuers who use a BondLink platform. Here is a link to the blog about this, and a story from The Bond Buyer.

Last month, we announced another data collaboration with Ipreo by IHS Markit. Like Fidelity, Ipreo is an incredible company that provides the order management system for institutional investors to place orders for new-issue bonds being sold in the municipal bond market. Working together, Ipreo and BondLink now provide these investors with one-click access to issuer financial data when they are accessing the Ipreo platform to place an order for bonds. 

The integration has only been active for a month but the feedback from investors is all very positive. Using our technology, we’re efficiently providing more information to investors at the very point of purchase so they can better understand the credits and the issuers they are considering investing in. 

Taken together, the collaborations we’ve created with Fidelity and Ipreo demonstrate how we’re leveraging technology to help our issuers stand out in a very crowded and fragmented bond market - with both institutional investors and individuals. Here’s a link to the story from The Bond Buyer.

We have even more collaborations in the works, so stay tuned for additional updates on those!