Tag Archives: minority broker-dealer

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Giving Credit When Due- IWD & Women on Wall Street

Credit Markets Are More Than Just Selling Credit; Includes Giving Credit When Due: to The Women on Wall Street!

MarketsMuse Fixed Income Curator Sara Abel spotlighted a superb salute to one of the top Women on Wall Street in connection with a bond issuance brought yesterday by Citigroup which was ‘dedicated to’ International Women’s Day (IWD). Here’s the excerpt of the article, courtesy of daily debt market commentary published by minority broker-dealer Mischler Financial Group under the banner “Quigley’s Corner” and authored by Managing Director & Head of Fixed Income Syndicate Ron Quigley..

Quigley’s Corner 03.13.17  Stella Won’t Stop The Show!; Saluting Women on Wall Street

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Ron Quigley, Mgn.Dir. Mischler Financial Group

Today, our good friends at Citibank N.A. issued a 2yr FXD/FRN in honor of International Women’s Day (“IWD”), which was last Wednesday, March 8th. IWD is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women among others. So, today it was a privilege and an honor to step aside and watch as Team Citi once again showed why they have been and continue to be a leading force for diversity in our IG dollar DCM.  Congratulations to the continued collective team efforts of everyone at Team Citi! The nation’s oldest Service Disabled Veteran broker dealer sends its five-star salute to each of you and as well as to all the women in our world and lives. The seven featured Women-Owned diversity broker dealer/investment banks on today’s Citibank N.A. “IWD” deal were:

  • L. King & Associates
  • CAPIS Institutional Services, Inc.
  • Lebenthal & Company LLC.
  • MFR Securities, Inc.
  • Siebert, Cisneros Shank & Cop., L.L.C.
  • Telsey Advisory Group
  • Tigress Financial Partners

Why would the financial industry’s oldest (and arguably largest) minority broker-dealer owned/operated by Service-Disabled Veterans  tout competing minority broker-dealers?  Well, I’d ask “why wouldn’t we?!”  Firstly, its the right thing to do! Second, it provides us the opportunity to showcase one of the global capital market’s leading and cutting edge D&I initiatives, while tipping our hat to the leading women in our diversity space.  So, congratulations for the glass ceilings raised and doors that Citigroup has helped open at their own financial institution through their own incredible procurement initiatives, as well as externally for all these leading women-owned firms. We extend a hardy congratulations to the respective women of D&I in our financial services industry. All for one, and one for all!

So, where do all these ideas originate?  A good place to start looking is from the top down at Citigroup.  Today I would suggest looking first in the office of one Suni Harford….

Who is Suni Harford?

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Suni Harford, Citigroup

Suni Harford, Citigroup

Suni Harford is a Managing Director and Citigroup’s Regional Head of Markets for North America. In this capacity, Suni oversees the North American sales, trading and origination businesses of Citi’s securities and banking franchise. Citi maintains a premier position across all of its fixed income, currency, equity and commodities offerings. In addition to her current responsibilities, Suni is a member of Citi’s Pension Plan Investment Committee, and a Director on the Board of Citibank Canada. Suni is also the co-head of Citigroup’s global women’s initiative, Citi Women.

Prior to her current assignment, Suni was Citi’s Global Head of Fixed Income research, where she was responsible for Citigroup’s credit analytics, research strategy and fixed income quantitative analytics efforts globally. Suni also had oversight of Citi’s premier fixed-income analytics platform, The Yield Book. From 1995-2004, Suni served as the co-head of Citi’s Fixed Income Capital Markets origination business, where she managed relationships with financial institutions.

Not that she doesn’t have enough on her plate, Suni also serves on the Board of Directors of The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation, the Board of Directors of The Forte Foundation, a national, non-profit organization dedicated to increasing the number of women leaders in business, the Board of the Friends of Hudson River Park, and the Board of Taproot Foundation, a national organization engaged in skills-based volunteerism and pro-bono philanthropy. Suni is also passionate about awareness and support for our veteran community, and she is involved in many organizations in this regard. In addition to serving on the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Veteran’s Employment Advisory Council, Suni has worked with First Lady Michele Obama’s Joining Forces initiative. Suni also represents Citi as a founding member of Veterans on Wall Street, a coalition of major financial services firms established in 2010 to engage the broader industry in efforts to support our transitioning veterans. Having helped formalize Citi’s very successful Veterans Initiative, CitiSalutes, in 2009, Suni remains the senior business sponsor for the initiative.

For those not already aware of her pedigree, Suni joined Salomon Brothers in January 1993, after five years with Merrill Lynch & Co. where she was a Vice President in Investment Banking. Suni joined Merrill upon graduation from the Amos Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College, where she received her M.B.A. Suni received her Bachelor of Science degree from Denison University, where she majored in physics and math.

Pretty impressive stuff right there folks. Now you know why Suni Harford was named one of  2016’s Top 20 Most Powerful Women on Wall Street!

So, in light of International Women’s Day and today’s honorable $2b Citibank N.A. “IWD” two-part new issue a “thank you”– not only to Suni, but to all the women in our investment grade debt capital markets and in our lives in addition to those who help perpetuate a more inclusive financial services industry.

Before I conclude, a bit of Women-on-Wall Street trivia for you from the guy-in-the-corner’s personal treasure trove –

to continue reading, please visit the 13 March edition of Quigley’s Corner investment grade corporate debt commentary via this link

 

Continue reading

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Veteran-Owned Broker-Dealer Pays Tribute to Veterans Day

Veteran-Owned Minority Broker-Dealer Mischler Financial Group Makes 2016 Veterans Day Month Pledge

Courtesy of MarketsMedia Stamford, CT & Newport Beach, CA –Veterans Day is observed by Americans each year on November 11; the day that is dedicated to honoring and extending our gratitude to the millions of men and women who have served within the US military. At Mischler Financial Group (“Mischler”), the financial industry’s oldest institutional brokerage and investment bank owned and operated by service-disabled veterans, Veterans Day is observed every day, and each November Mischler pledges a percentage of the entire month’s profits to carefully-vetted charitable organizations that support veterans and their families in recognition of this national holiday.

To honor Veterans Day Month 2016, Mischler Financial Group has made a financial pledge to three separate organizations that go above and beyond the call of duty to support military veteran families and local communities. Those 501c3 organizations are Bob Woodruff Foundation, The Johnny Mac Soldiers Fund and Buildon.org.

Stated Dean Chamberlain, Chief Executive of Mischler Financial, a 20-year veteran of the securities industry and a U.S. Military Academy at West Point alumni, “There are now more than 22 million Americans who have served with integrity and honor in the US Armed Forces, yet when transitioning back to civilian roles, too many are encountering challenges as they seek higher ground. The Mischler Financial year-round philanthropic mission is dedicated to the military veteran community at large, and Veterans Day Month provides a special opportunity for our trading desk and our clients to work together to give back and pay forward to the veteran community in ways that can truly help change lives for the better.”

Added Chamberlain, “This past May, we made our Memorial Day Month pledge to crowdfund campaign Veterans Education Challenge,  as we believe that advanced education is a core component to both personal and professional success. The organizations that we have pledged our Veterans Day Month support to provide equally unique runways by which veterans can further bolster their knowledge base and self-confidence, and in turn, help them to more easily target and capture opportunities as they advance forward.”

FOR THE FULL STORY VIA MARKETSMEDIA.COM, PLEASE CLICK HERE

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Land of the Rising None; Fed is Fed Up re Rates Talk

The Fed is Fed Up re Rates Talk…or at least they must be, according to MarketsMuse pundits who have frequently guessed wrong within the context of how much and when the FOMC will decide to upend the current interest rate regime and return to normal. Below excerpt is courtesy of expert debt capital market commentary published 21 Sept 2016 under the banner “Quigley’s Corner”–a daily note delivered to institutional fixed income portfolio managers and Fortune corporate treasurer clients of Mischler Financial Group, a minority broker-dealer and the sell-side’s oldest boutique investment bank/institutional brokerage owned/operated by service-disabled veterans…

It was a no print day today as corporate debt issuers respected both the impact of the BoJ and FOMC.

dewey moment mischler debt market Not so fast my friends…..not so fast!  It’s not exactly a “Dewey Defeats Truman” moment. Still, let’s call it like it is folks – I did say “the next best thing to having tomorrow’s newspaper today is the ‘QC’”.  Then on Monday, September 19th and alluding to today’s BoJ and FOMC rate decisions, I wrote, “Fed Holds; BoJ Cuts Rate and Then Some.” Well, I guess it’s not “tomorrow’s newspaper today” but I still think it’s the “next best thing to it.” The Fed Held, the BoJ introduced new fringy though convoluted easing details (“and then some”) but the BoJ kept rates unchanged.  Two out of three isn’t bad, but that’s why it’s “the next best thing.” If I played baseball, I’d be in the Hall of Fame with a .666 average.  Joking aside, a Fed that infers raising rates by December should have hiked rates today, but they didn’t. This is more of the same readers.  Look for Fed members – both voting and non-voting – to continue giving speeches and appearing on television to opine about the rate flux that has restricted so many from doing so much.  The street is the leader; the Fed is the ultimate laggard.  It’s how it is.  Today was more of the same. No surprise at all.  The government should consider issuing a gag order on any and all Fed-speak in between meetings for all members, both voting and non-voting.  They only confuse the situation and shock markets.

First up, let’s look at what the BoJ did while we were in REM sleep this morning:

A Big Red Zero – Land of the Rising “None” as BoJ Keeps Rates at <0.1%> & Introduces More Shifts to PolicyBoJ Mischler Debt Market Comment

Central Banks from the FOMC to the BOE and from the ECB to the BoJ all seem to be pointing to the downside risks to continued rate cuts while at the same time highlighting that monetary policy needs to be substantially accommodative while calling on governments to share more of the economic burdens. Here’s what’s clear: growth is anemic to non-existent, inflation unchanged to nowhere, accommodative policies are manifesting themselves in new policy twists and turns and big government needs to get more involved.  Hmmm…..sounds like things aren’t quite working out, eh?

 

Here are the talking points from this morning’s BoJ announcement:

 

o   The BoJ left interest rates at its still record low <0.1%>.

o   Committed to intervene until inflation reaches 2% and remains stable above that level.

o   Will cap 10-year yields at 0.00% by continuing to buy 10yr JGBs implying that the BoJ must continue intervening to prevent borrowing costs from rising and to ensure that it can borrow for a decade for free.

o   Changed its policy from a focus on a base money target to controlling the yield curve.

o   Pledged to maintain its government bond-buying in line with ¥80 trillion annually while buying fewer long-dated maturities hoping to pump up long-term interest rates thereby helping banks boost profits. There was no expansion of its current quantitative easing program.

 

Will this new approach be effective?  Only time will tell.  It certainly is a shift in monetary policy to control the yield curve. It is NOT a bazooka by any stretch and more like “fiddling around the edges.”  As for the 2.00% target? Folks, we all know that’s a loooong way off. Market participants have a lot of questions with many sharing that the “BoJ should’ve just cut rates again.” Equity markets loved the news. The DOW closed up 163, the S&P was in the black 23, the VIX compressed over 2.5 and CDX27 tightened 3.2 bps.

“Fed” Up with Rates, FOMC Holds; November Increase Has No Chance Pre- Election and Santa Claus is Coming to Town…with Coal?

The Fed held rates albeit the subsequent press conference was more optimistic, if one can call it that, saying the economy appeared “slightly balanced” and “the case for an increase in the fed funds rate strengthened but decided, for the time being to wait for further evidence of continued progress toward its objectives.”  You all know about the myriad global event risk factors out there.  There are so many that on any given day in our inextricably global-linked world economy, should one or several of them get worse, which is entirely plausible-to-likely, the Fed can skirt around a hike by once again pointing to global events, as they have in the past, to justify standing down.  In fact, in its statement Chair Yellen said, “we will closely monitor inflation and global developments.” What’s more, the next FOMC meeting will be held on November 1srt and 2nd and is not associated with a Summary of Economic Projections or a press conference by Yellen. It is highly unlikely that the Fed raises rates in November given that the meeting will take places 6 days before one our nation’s most tumultuous and raucous elections.  Last year saw one rate hike to close out 2015 at its December meeting.  Santa Claus will be coming to town early at the year’s last meeting of 2016 held December 13th-14th …………..but don’t be surprised to find coal in the stocking.

Folks, Q3 is about over.  You hear that sound?   That’s the sound of trucks?  They’re backing up to print between now and Election Day – BIG TIME. 12 IG issuers are in the pipeline with a whole lot of M&A deals getting closer.

Here’s All You Want and Need to Know About Today’s Fed Decision

(to continue reading, please visit the Mischler Financial Group Debt Market Commentary page

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Strong Demand For Yield-Outsize Demand For IG Corporate Bonds

MarketsMuse Fixed Income Curators have been keeping tabs on the seemingly insatiable and outsize demand for yield and in particular, the demand for IG Corporate Bonds aka  investment grade corporate debt. With that, we roll to opening excerpt of Aug 9 notes from “Quigley’s Corner”, the financial industry award-winning commentary produced by Ron Quigley, Head of Fixed Income Syndicate for boutique investment bank/institutional brokerage Mischler Financial Group, the securities industry’s oldest minority broker-dealer owned and operated by Service-Disabled Veterans..

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Ron Quigley, Mischler Financial Group

Today things slowed down a bit for the IG dollar DCM but it was still a formidable line-up. We featured 5 IG Corporate Debt issuers that priced 9 tranches between them totaling $7.66b.  The Asian Development Bank priced its expected two-part 3s/10s new issue in the SSA space that totaled $1.3b bringing today’s all-in IG tally to 6 issuers, 11 tranches for $8.96b.

WTD we have now priced 85% of the syndicate midpoint average forecast for the week or $19.46b vs. $22.80b.
MTD we eclipsed the syndicate estimate for the month after only 7 sessions or $68.41b vs. $61.13b.

The big deal of the day in the IG Corporate Debt space was Duke Energy Corp. $3.75b 3-part 5s/10s/30s issued to finance a portion of costs in connection with Duke’s acquisition of Piedmont Natural Gas Company Inc.   Last week Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) announced it mandated Barclays, Credit Suisse, Mizuho, MUFG Securities and UBS as joint leads to arrange investor calls after which a transaction could soon follow.  As has been written in the “QC” pipeline for a while, on Friday, January 22nd, shareholders of Piedmont Natural Gas (A2/A) voted to approve the Company’s acquisition by Duke Energy (A3/BBB+).  66.8% of voting shares supported the acquisition.  In late October 2015, Duke Energy, (A3/BBB+) the nation’s largest utility, announced that it will buy Piedmont Natural Gas (A2/A) for $4.9b in cash.  Both companies are partners in the $5b Atlantic Coast Pipeline.  The purchase adds one million new rate payers to Duke Energy’s customer base.  Congrats to Duke!

Rates on the Rise?…Think Again.

Today the U.S. Treasury held a 3-year notes auction.  It was one of the strongest in years.  Investors or buyers, for that matter, fly into the safety of USTs motivated by fear and desire for safety.  No one flies into 3yr Notes for the 0.85% yield.  You want my money?  Let’s talk about 5-8% and we can discuss it.  So, when I heard the 3yr auction was so wildly successful I pulled up a chair next to my rates guru Mr. Tony Farren to discuss the matter.  Here are the prescient takeaways:

  • The auction stopped thru 1.2 bps which is a big stop for a 3yr auction.
  • Dealers bought 33.7% of it versus the 6-month average of 38.2%.
  • The bid-to-cover or oversubscription rate was 2.98x versus the 6-month average of 2.76x.
  • Bidders at the auction yield (stopped 1.2 bps thru) only received 54.18% of their size bid for (so, if you bid for $100mm you only wound up buying $54.18mm).

What does it all mean?  Lower-for-longer.  The Fed is not raising rates anytime soon folks.  Taking rate volatility off the table means dive int the stock market readers.  Get back in now.

To read the full (excerpted edition) of Aug 9 edition of “Quigley’s Corner”, please click here

BREXIT v BREMAIN: Should I Stay or Should I Go..

BREXIT or BREMAIN the NEVERENDUMS Will Continue in Europe

“Should I Stay or Should I Go? That Answer Is Self Evident…”

A Global Macro perspective from Debt Market Veteran..Music by Clash,  Comments by Quigley

Below excerpt courtesy of 22 June edition of  “Quigley’s Corner”, the industry award-winning debt capital market commentary from Ron Quigley, Managing Director of boutique investment bank / institutional brokerage Mischler Financial Group, the financial industry’s oldest minority broker-dealer owned and operated by Service-Disabled Veterans

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Ron Quigley, Mgn.Dir. Mischler Financial Group

Everyone is now saying how anxious the markets are to get the U.K. referendum vote out of the way.  It’s been like a dark cloud hovering over the financial services industry.  However, they are also increasingly pointing out that even with a vote to BREXIT, the actual impact will be much less severe than first anticipated.  So, without further ado and since the potential impact has been overplayed these last several weeks, I need to chime in here with one day left to voice why the U.K. should want to part from the EU.

Over the last several days British PM David Cameron’s rally cry has been “Brits Don’t Quit” which from my perspective is akin to saying “Brits are followers not leaders.” The U.K. has a long history of doing the right thing at the right time.  I point no further than its involvement in both chapters of World War II.  That right there is foundational to the people of the U.K. – doing things for the greater good in defense of Britain and our allies  Staying in the EU would be doing the wrong thing that will hurt Britain.  But I know you want more meat on this bone so let’s get to it:

As I’ve said from the get go, Britain left the EEC – the precursor to the EU – in 1982 in a special referendum vote in which the “leave” vote garnered 52% to the “stay” vote’s 48%. Sound familiar?  The U.K. also never adopted the single currency and the Schengen Agreement has no place because the U.K is an island nation. Still the Euro and Schengen are the foundational building blocks for a successful EU.  The continent is now into negative rates, there are far too many cultures, borders, nationalities, customs, histories and languages to virtually have doomed the EU from the start. That’s why the U.K. was never part of the EU’s core thesis.

Unemployment will not rise in the U.K.  on a BREXIT rather it will hammer out a UK/EU trade agreement to maintain continued healthy trade with the European continent.

For those EU chiefs threatening “if there’s a BREXIT, the U.K. will NEVER rejoin the EU again!”  here’s what I have to say on the subject : Advocates to BREMAIN claim that the U.K. maintains a balance of power in Europe that has preserved peace following World Wars I & II.  First, I state that WW I & II were actually one VERY long war with a pregnant pause between them.  Europe could not keep itself together.  History shows that is true.  So, follow the logic – if the U.K. leaves and Europe heads toward the cusp of war, don’t you think the continent would do everything in its power to avoid another catastrophe?  Europe would obviously welcome Britain with open arms! Not that the U.K. would then chose to jump back onboard.

For those of you not sure, however, let’s take Greece as an example.  Greece has been bailed out three times by the EU.  They are in every aspect of the term a laggard economy and society.  I have nothing against Greece or Greeks but the word AUSTERITY is not in their vocabulary! ………Hold on a moment,  as I need to check that with some phone calls.  Oops, sorry folks, in my ambition to get the details right I stand corrected.  The word for “austerity” in Greek is “λιτότητα.” So, it does actually exist but the rest of the world can’t seem to decipher those characters – quite literally. Having said that austerity is not embraced by Greek society.  They are all about enjoying life and taking it easy.  That’s why the average lifespan for a male is 78.6 years and a female is 83.9 years. The average is 81.3 years ranking it 20th in the world. Conversely, we here in the U.S., we rank 26th and at the end of the day isn’t life what it’s all about. So, that’s my concession to Greece, a longer life span because they’re obviously not stressed what with everyone else paying the freight and carrying their load. The point here is that if the EU bailed out that laggard nation THREE TIMES do you really think the idle threat to the U.K. of never being invited back into the EU has any remote credibility with Brits at all?  I mean c’mon, get real.  Europe is dismantling faster and faster with each month.  Britain should want no part of it. Continue reading

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Wall St. Firm Memorial Day Pledge to VetEdChallenge Crowdfund Campaign

May 12-Stamford, CT–Mischler Financial Group (“MFG”), the financial industry’s oldest minority investment bank and institutional brokerage owned and operated by Service-Disabled Veterans, announced today that in recognition of the upcoming Memorial Day celebration, the firm has pledged a percentage of its entire May profits to Veterans Education Challenge, (VetEdChallenge) a donation-based crowdfund campaign. The philanthropic initiative is dedicated to providing need-based college scholarships to ex-military students pursuing higher education so they can get better access to a broad range of career development opportunities.

Veterans Education Challenge was established in November 2015 by investment management industry veteran Bruce Richards and his wife Avis. Mr. Richards is personally matching the first $1million in donations made to the VetEdChallenge campaign via crowdfund platform “Crowdrise.” He  is co-founder, CEO and managing partner of Marathon Asset Management, the $12.5 billion investment firm specializing in global credit and fixed income markets.

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Dean Chamberlain

“This Memorial Day Month we’ve embraced a more contemporary approach to paying it forward via the VetEdChallenge program”, said Mischler Financial Group CEO Dean Chamberlain, a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point who himself earned his MBA via a work-scholarship program at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. “Our annual, entire month of May pledge in honor of Memorial Day, as well as our annual Veteran’s Day Month pledge has typically focused on traditional, best-in-class philanthropies and we believe the VetEdCballenge is an ideal vehicle to directly impact the future of returning veterans, as higher education can provide a material lift in the course of pursuing opportunities.”

Added Chamberlain, “Because we are always mentoring returning veterans, we know first-hand about the challenges these men and women face as they assimilate back into the mainstream and find themselves working multiple jobs to put aside funds for educational degrees beyond their pre-military academic background. We’re proud to partner with Bruce Richards and be affiliated with his truly thought-leading program. We encourage our institutional clients to help us support this initiative via our trading desk(s) and/or directly via the Veterans Education Challenge crowdfund program.

Other philanthropic organizations that Mischler Financial Group supports are displayed on the firm’s website via this link.

 

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Avalanche of Investment Grade Corporate Debt Deals

Below extract is courtesy of May 09 edition of daily debt capital market commentary and focus on investment grade corporate debt deals courtesy of boutique investment bank Mischler Financial Group, the financial industry’s oldest minority broker-dealer owned and operated by Service-Disabled Veterans. MarketsMuse editorial team adds: “Make no mistake, the phrase ‘service-disabled’ applies to members of the military injured in the line of duty and no longer certified for combat situations. The heroes who have earned “SDV certification” are highly-trained, uniquely capable and often, thanks to the skills learned while serving in the U.S. military, are more qualified than most to meet and exceed job requirements across every facet of any business setting.

Today makes it clear why I featured “The Most Interesting Man in the World” in last Friday’s “QC” saying, “EMBRACE NEXT WEEK’S IG ISSUANCE

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Ron Quigley, Mgn.Dir. Mischler Financial Group

AVALANCHE!” Just look at today’s numbers: 10 IG Corporate issuers priced 25 tranches between them totaling $25.10bn.  SSA featured 1 issuer and 1 tranche for $500mm bringing today’s all-in IG day total to a monolithic 11 issuers, 26 tranches and $25.6bn.

Here’s where today stands:

 

The 7th highest IG dollar new issue volume day of all-time.

The 2nd busiest day of 2016 for the same.

The 3rd highest number of tranches priced in history.

New Issues Priced Today’s recap of visitors to our IG dollar Corporate and SSA DCM:For ratings I use the better two of Moody’s, S&P or Fitch.IG

Issuer Ratings Coupon Maturity Size IPTs GUIDANCE LAUNCH PRICED LEADS
AbbVie Inc. Baa2/A- 2.30% 5/14/2021 1,800 +135a +120a (+/-5) +115 +115 BAML/BARC/DB/JPM
AbbVie Inc. Baa2/A- 2.85% 5/14/2023 1,000 +150a +140a (+/-5) +135 +135 BAML/BARC/DB/JPM
AbbVie Inc. Baa2/A- 3.20% 5/14/2026 2,000 +165a +155a (+/-5) +150 +150 BAML/BARC/DB/JPM
AbbVie Inc. Baa2/A- 4.30% 5/14/2036 1,000 +195a +180a (+/-5) +175 +175 BAML/BARC/DB/JPM
AbbVie Inc. Baa2/A- 4.45% 5/14/2046 2,000 +210a +195a (+/-5) +190 +190 BAML/BARC/DB/JPM
Banco de Bogota Ba2/BBB 6.25% 5/12/2026 600 mid 6.00%a 6.50%a (+/-12.5) 6.50% +474.8 CS/JPM/HSBC
Burlington Northern Santa Fe, LLC A3/A 3.90% 8/01/2046 750 +155a +135a (+/-2) +133 +133 CITI/GS/JPM
Chevron Corp. Aa2/AA- FRN 5/16/2018 850 3mL+50a 3mL+50 the # 3mL+50 3mL+50 BAML/JPM/WFS
Chevron Corp. Aa2/AA- 1.561% 5/16/2019 1,350 +70a +70 the # +70 +70 BAML/JPM/WFS
Chevron Corp. Aa2/AA- FRN 5/16/2021 250 3mL+equiv 3mL+equiv 3mL+95 3mL+95 BAML/JPM/WFS
Chevron Corp. Aa2/AA- 2.10% 5/16/2021 1,350 +90a +90 the # +90 +90 BAML/JPM/WFS
Chevron Corp. Aa2/AA- 2.566% 5/16/2023 750 +105a +105 the # +105 +105 BAML/JPM/WFS
Chevron Corp. Aa2/AA- 2.954% 5/16/2026 2,250 +120a +120 the # +120 +120 BAML/JPM/WFS
Deutsche Bank Baa1/BBB+ FRN 5/10/2019 500 3mL+equiv 3mL+equiv 3mL+191 3mL+191 DB-sole
Deutsche Bank Baa1/BBB+ 2.85% 5/10/2019 1,600 +212.5a +200 the # +200 +200 DB-sole
Deutsche Bank Baa1/BBB+ 3.375% 5/12/2021 1,500 +237.5a +225 the # +225 +225 DB-sole
Duke Energy Indiana LLC Aa3/A 3.75% 5/12/2046 500 +130a +115a (+/-3) +115 +115 CS/GS/MIZ/USB
GATX Corp. Baa2/BBB 5.625% 50NC5 150 5.75%a RG: 5.625%a
+5.75%a
5.625% $25 par BAML/MS
Waste Management Baa2/A- 2.40% 5/15/2023 500 +110a N/A +90 +90 BAML/CITI/MIZ
Westpac Banking Corp. Aa2/AA- FRN 5/13/2019 250 3mL+equiv 3mL+equiv 3mL+71 3mL+71 BAML/CITI/GS/JPM
Westpac Banking Corp. Aa2/AA- 1.65% 5/13/2019 750 +95a +85a (+/-5) +80 +80 BAML/CITI/GS/JPM
Westpac Banking Corp. Aa2/AA- FRN 5/13/2021 250 3mL+equiv 3mL+equiv 3mL+100 3mL+100 BAML/CITI/GS/JPM
Westpac Banking Corp. Aa2/AA- 2.10% 5/13/2021 1,250 +110a +100a (+/-5) +95 +95 BAML/CITI/GS/JPM
Westpac Banking Corp. Aa2/AA- 2.85% 5/13/2026 1,500 +137.5 +120a (+/-5) +115 +115 BAML/CITI/GS/JPM
WW Grainger Inc. A2/AA- 3.75% 5/16/2046 400 +140a +120a (+/-3) +117 +117 HSBC/MS/WFS

         

For the entire edition of Quigley’s Corner, including a full analysis of the day’s debt capital market activity, please click here  

SSA

Issuer Ratings Coupon Maturity Size IPTs GUIDANCE LAUNCH PRICED LEADS
Mubadala Dev. Co. PJSC Aa2/AA 2.75% 5/11/2023 500 MS+170 MS+150 MS+150 +133.8 BAML/BNPP/FGB/JPM/MUFG/SG

 

 

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World’s Biggest Bank Gets It; Gives It Back

BNY Mellon ‘Gets It’ and Also Gives It Back.

With close-on $29Trillion in deposits and $1.3Trillion in AUM, BNY Mellon (NYSE:BK), the oldest bank in the U.S. is not just the country’s biggest, it ranks as one of the world’s biggest banks. Hundreds of financial industry professionals now working across the financial markets ecosystem are alumni of BNY Mellon, long-recognized as the top training ground for those who aspire to long-term professional careers within financial services.

While many “BNY” alum (including MarketsMuse senior editor) fondly recall an on-boarding process in which mentors made humorous reference to Alexander Hamilton’s orders to his top executives immediately prior to his ill-fated duel with Aaron Burr (“Don’t do anything until I return..”), most followers of BNY Mellon know that its culture is driven by perseverance and a focus to make sure no stone be left un-turned in the course of overcoming a challenge. In that spirit, a young, London-based BNY Mellon exec by the name of Charlie Thompson, a former professional Rugby star who cashed-in his sports career in favor of banking, deserves a hero’s award for re-uniting an industry colleague and highly-decorated Vietnam War hero with an invaluable piece of his personal history.

While Thompson was on holiday last year touring Vietnam, he came across a souvenir hut hawking assorted items that included a set of US military dog-tags. Intrigued, Thompson purchased the tags with the goal of hopefully tracking down the owner and/or family members and returning them. It turns out those dog-tags had been lost nearly 48 years ago by former US Marine Infantry Officer Rick Tilghman, who while serving in Southeast Asia, was awarded not one, but two Purple Hearts and The Bronze Star (with Valor).

Making the story more inspiring, the new personal bond between Thompson and Tilghman is coincident to a long-standing bond market relationship between Thompson’s employer and Tilghman’s firm, the boutique investment bank Mischler Financial Group (the industry’s oldest minority broker-dealer firm owned/operated by Service-Disabled Veterans), where Tilghman, now one of the municipal bond industry’s elder statesmen, oversees the firm’s Public Finance Underwriting group.

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Colleen Krieger, BNY Mellon

To their credit, BNY Mellon, long an advocate of Veteran-centric initiatives, has made hay with this story and since went to great lengths to help Thompson coordinate a formal return of Tilghman’s dog-tags, and along the way, produced a documentary story that has since been profiled by multiple news media outlets, including this week’s 10-minute interview of Thompson and Tilghman by Fox and Friends and broadcast via multiple FOX News affiliates.

Here’s the corporate documentary profiling the story that was produced by BNY Mellon. Rolling credits are not included, but a special salute goes to Colleen Krieger, Associate Director of Corporate Communications for BNY Mellon.

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2016 Wall Street Letter Award For Best Broker-Dealer Goes To

If not as widely-covered as the GOP or DNC primaries, financial industry publication Wall Street Letter (“WSL”) held its 5th Annual Institutional Trading Awards ceremony last night at NYC venue 583 Park Avenue and recognized best-in-class broker-dealers across 7 major categories, including Best Broker Dealer (OverAll), Best Broker-Dealer Research, Best BD-Client Service and Best Broker-Dealer across equities, futures and options. The WSL Awards also recognized the firms considered to be the top within technology offerings, including electronic trading applications and electronic exchange platforms.

Taking home the gold for Best Broker-Dealer “Overall” :Wolverine Execution Services (WEX). Runners-up included Bloomberg Tradebook, Interactive Brokers, Mischler Financial Group and Dash Financial. Best Broker-Dealer Research was awarded for the third consecutive year to Mischler Financial Group, the industry’s oldest minority broker-dealer owned and operated by Service-Disabled Veterans. Runners up in the Best Research category: Stifel Nicolaus and Sandler O’Neil.

Best Broker-Dealer Equities was awarded to Fidelity Capital Markets and  in the client service category BNP Paribas took the prize. Best Options Platform was awarded to Interactive Brokers and Best Options Broker was awarded to WallachBeth Capital.

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Ron Quigley, Mgn.Dir. Mischler Financial Group

Noted Mischler Financial Group Managing Director Ron Quigley, who accepted the award on behalf of his firm, “Its a great honor to even be considered as a contender for an industry award when considering the pedigree of the other great firms that were nominated. It’s always good to be in good company and its best to be recognized for capabilities.”

The full list of nominees and winners of Wall Street Letter 6th Annual Institutional Trading Awards is available via this link

 

Which BrokerDealer Does Dare To Be Different re D&I: The CITI That Never Sleeps

MarketsMuse is known for being both a curator of financial market news as well as a part-time pontificating platform, and yet our altruistic editorial team actually likes to lean towards and forward to our followers select stories that profile the truly compelling “social-sensitive” initiatives spearheaded by Wall Street banks.

While it may come as a surprise to the universe of cynics, ‘feel good’ stories-i.e. those in which Wall Streeters are actually doing things to add to society and not just their wallets, do take place every day. Sadly, those snapshots are typically under-noticed or not advanced by the traditional business media outlets, who typically reserve “Wall Street Doing Good and Giving Back”- type stories for Memorial Day and Veteran’s Day and limit those ‘profile pieces’ to a very short list of big-walleted sell-side advertisers.

(Shout out to anyone at CNBC who is reading this post, we hope you’re actually paying attention to this post!)..

Dean Chamberlain CEO, Mischler Financial
Dean Chamberlain CEO, Mischler Financial

Anyway, thanks entirely to the folks at Citigroup, along with minority-owned firms Mischler Financial Group and Williams Capital, Wall Street Leaders CAN and DO Dare to Be Different. This is best illustrated by Citi’s long-heralded, book-runner role for advancing Diversity & Inclusion initiatives aka “D&I” across Wall Street via alliances with aforementioned co-managers Mischler (the industry’s oldest firm owned and operated by Service-Disabled Veterans), Williams (the leading African-American owned BD) and corporate alliances with the likes of Toyota Motor Credit Corp., the combination of which helps promote the D&I message across the entirety of Main Street as well. Continue reading

Rate Outlook: This Fixed Income Expert Says: “Lower For Longer”

MarketsMuse update courtesy of debt capital markets desk notes distributed to clients of boutique brokerdealer Mischler Financial under the banner “Quigley’s Corner”. Mischler Financial, the financial industry’s oldest and largest minority firm owned/operated by Service-Disabled Veterans received the 2015 Wall Street Letter Award for Best Research/BrokerDealer.

Ron Quigley, Mischler Financial Group
Ron Quigley, Mischler Financial Group

Well, it’s finally Friday and every Friday is a Good Friday!  So, let’s take a look back at the amazing week the investment grade corporate debt market has just concluded.

  • This week was the second busiest in history for all-in IG volume (Corps+SSA) at $65.03b.
  • It is now the fourth busiest all-time as measured by the number of individual tranches priced for all-in IG Corporate plus SSA issues with 63tranches priced.
  • In terms of IG Corporate only supply the week’s  $54.03bn ranks 5th all-time in that category.
  • Market tone remains firm with CDX IG23 at a new low this morning of 60.12.
  • The DOW and S&P are hovering around all-times highs both set this past Monday.
  • Deals are performing well, NICs remain skimpy averaging 3.16 bps across this week’s 59 IG Corporate-only prints and demand is very strong with those 59 issues averaging a 3.55x bid-to-cover rate.
  • The U.S. NFP number was upbeat blowing by estimates or 295k vs. 235k and the EU will be purchasing assets launching EU QE as early as Monday’s session.
  • The average spread daily compression across today’s 59 IG Corporate-only new pricings was 16.28 bps from IPTs to the launch.
  • Spreads across the 4 IG asset classes are an average 21.00 bps wider versus their post-Crisis lows and versus 23.50 last Friday or 2.50 bps tighter on the week!
  • Spreads across the 19 major industry sectors are an average 25.32 bps wider versus their post-Crisis lows and versus 28.21 bps last Friday or 2.89 bps tighter!
  • BAML’s IG Master Index was unchanged at +131 versus yesterday but 6 bps tighter versus last Friday’s +137 although rebalancing took place thanks to Petrobras being dropped due its high yield rating.
  • Standard & Poor’s Global Fixed Income Research was at +171 versus +173 one week ago or 2 bps tighter.
  • Taking a look at the secondary trading performance of this week’s IG and SSA new issues, of the 63 deals that printed, 51 tightened versus NIP for a 81.00% improvement rate while only 4 widened (6.50%), 7 were trading flat (11.00%) and 1 was not available (1.50%).

Continue reading

Bulge Bracket Veteran Enlists With Veteran-Owned Boutique’s International Equities Execution Platform

Mischler Financial Adds To International Equities Team;

Global Bank Trading Veteran Appointed to Senior Role for 24/6 Agency-Only Platform

Immediate News Release

Stamford, CT July 14, 2014—Mischler Financial Group (“MFG”), the securities industry’s oldest investment bank/institutional brokerage owned and operated by service-disabled veterans announced that Eric Michalisin, a close on 20-year sell-side industry veteran and a recognized specialist in international equities execution has joined the firm’s agency-only trading desk and has been appointed, Director, International Equities Sales/Trading. Mr. Michalisin will be based in the firm’s Stamford, CT office and work directly with Managing Director Rob Livio, who oversees the firm’s 24/6 international equities sales/trading platform.

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Eric Michalisin, Mischler Financial Group

During the 3 years immediately prior to joining Mischler, Mr. Michalisin was Director, International Equities for RBS Securities. During the 7 years prior, he was a senior member of the international equities desk for JP Morgan Chase. Mr. Michalisin began his sell-side career in 1996 as a Far East equities sales/trading specialist for Robert Fleming, Inc and remained with predecessor firm Jardine Fleming Securities throughout 2001.

Noted Joe Digiammo, Mischler’s global head of equities, “Eric’s major firm background, coupled with his unique insight to local market trading, as well as best execution for US-listed ADRs provides our institutional clients with yet another highly-experienced touch-point for those seeking to navigate global equities markets on a 24/6 basis.”

For additional information, please visit the entire news release published today via this link to the Mischler Financial Group website

2014 Wall Street Letter Institutional Trading Awards Goes To..

2014 wsl award logoBreaking News..New York, NY Feb 25 Latest Update: 9.45 pm EST

At a gala financial industry awards ceremony hosted by Wall Street Letter to recognize the year’s top investment banks, institutional brokers and trading technology providers, 300 of the financial industry’s senior executives gathered tonight to salute their peers in a best-in-class competition extending across 20 categories. Thanks to tweets sent from attendees during tonight’s dinner event, MarketsMuse is first to report the following announcements midway through the evening’s program:

Tom Quigley (l) WallachBeth Capital. MD/Electronic Trading Desk
Tom Quigley (l) WallachBeth Capital. MD/Electronic Trading Desk

Spotlighting one of the most talked-about service offerings in today’s brokerage industry landscape, in the category “Best DMA Offering,” agency-only execution specialist WallachBeth Capital took home the gold, with Bloomberg’s Tradebook and Object Trading receiving honorable mentions.   WallachBeth’s electronic trading/DMA group was launched in 2013 to complement the firm’s widely-recognized ETF, Options, Delta One trade desks and healthcare sector equities research team. The firm’s trading system technology platform is powered by OEMS solutions vendor OMEX Systems.

Sunguard Financial Systems, Instinet, Wolverine Execution Services, Tethys Technol0gies, Inc, Advent Software, Interactive Brokers, ITG Inc. and Bloomberg LP‘s Tradebook were among the other top contenders in several of the 20 brokerage and technology categories.

The 2014 WSL Institutional Trading Award for “Best Broker-Dealer/Research,” a new category that combined providers of equities research and fixed income content, Newport Beach-based Mischler Financial Group was selected best-in-class in which the 2 other contenders for that top spot were Stifel Nicolaus, the BD subsidiary of Stifel Financial, and investment bank Sandler O’Neil + Partners. Mischler Financial is a full service investment bank/institutional brokerage and the securities industry’s oldest and largest minority firm owned and operated by service-disabled veterans. The firm specializes in primary debt capital markets, fixed income syndicate market commentary and operates a 24/6 global institutional equities execution platform.

At press time, the winner of WSL’s 2014 Best Broker Dealer/Client Service was in the process of being announced. Contenders for this coveted award included BNP Paribas Securities Services, Northern Trust Securities, Sunguard Financial Systems, WallachBeth Capital, Bloomberg Tradebook and Mischler Financial.

Officials of Pageant Media, Ltd., the UK-based media giant and parent of Wall Street Letter announced the official listing of winners will be available at Wall Street Letter website.

Veteran’s Day: Wall Street Firm Pledges November Profits to Children of Fallen Patriots Foundation

MischlerLogo Nov 2012In honor of this coming Veteran’s Day, Mischler Financial Group, Wall Street’s oldest (and largest) service-disabled veteran (SDV) owned institutional brokerage/banking firm (and 1 of 9 investment bank selling group members for yesterdays Twitter IPO) announced last week the firm has pledged 10% of November profits to Children of Fallen Patriots Foundation.

CEO Dean Chamberlain, Mischler Financial Group
CEO Dean Chamberlain, Mischler Financial Group

According to Dean Chamberlain, CEO of Mischler Financial Group, “In the course of our serving leading corporations, public plan sponsors and the industry’s most recognized investment managers, our mandate is to dedicate the fruits of those labors to veteran-centric organizations that make a crucial difference in the lives of military veterans and their families. Towards that goal, our embracing an organization that sponsors college education for deserving, yet financially-challenged children of military members killed in the line of duty is perhaps one of the most impactful ways that we can “pay it forward.”

Noted David Kim, the Founder and President of Children of Fallen Patriots and the co-head of Investor Relations for Apax Partners, one of the world’s most recognized private equity firms, “Among the many formidable organizations and individuals who support our efforts, having the additional financial support of the oldest veteran-owned Wall Street firm speaks volumes to the very heart of our mission.”

For the full story, please click here