Tag Archives: mischler financial group

wwII-ww2-D-Day-June-6-1944

Remembering D-Day, June 6, 1944

We pay tribute to all WWII Veterans, those who landed on the beaches of Normandy, France to repel Nazi Germany’s forces and those who made the ultimate sacrifice on D-Day, June 6, 1944, to defend the values that we hold so dear.

MarketsMuse Curators extend a warm salute to Mischler Financial Group, the industry’s oldest investment bank owned and operated by Service-Disabled Veterans for providing additional color to this post.

The Normandy landings were the landing operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as D-Day, it was the largest seaborne invasion in history. The operation began the liberation of German-occupied France (and later western Europe) from Nazi control, and laid the foundations of the Allied victory on the Western Front.

Planning for the operation began in 1943. In the months leading up to the invasion, the Allies conducted a substantial military deception, codenamed Operation Bodyguard, to mislead the Germans as to the date and location of the main Allied landings. The weather on D-Day was far from ideal and the operation had to be delayed 24 hours; a further postponement would have meant a delay of at least two weeks as the invasion planners had requirements for the phase of the moon, the tides, and the time of day that meant only a few days each month were deemed suitable. Adolf Hitler placed German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel in command of German forces and of developing fortifications along the Atlantic Wall in anticipation of an Allied invasion.

The amphibious landings were preceded by extensive aerial and naval bombardment and an airborne assault—the landing of 24,000 US, British, and Canadian airborne troops shortly after midnight. Allied infantry and armored divisions began landing on the coast of France at 06:30. The target 50-mile (80 km) stretch of the Normandy coast was divided into five sectors: Utah, OmahaGoldJuno, and Sword. Strong winds blew the landing craft east of their intended positions, particularly at Utah and Omaha. The men landed under heavy fire from gun emplacements overlooking the beaches, and the shore was mined and covered with obstacles such as wooden stakes, metal tripods, and barbed wire, making the work of the beach-clearing teams difficult and dangerous. Casualties were heaviest at Omaha, with its high cliffs. At Gold, Juno, and Sword, several fortified towns were cleared in house-to-house fighting, and two major gun emplacements at Gold were disabled using specialized tanks.

The Allies failed to achieve any of their goals on the first day. CarentanSt. Lô, and Bayeux remained in German hands, and Caen, a major objective, was not captured until 21 July. Only two of the beaches (Juno and Gold) were linked on the first day, and all five beachheads were not connected until 12 June; however, the operation gained a foothold which the Allies gradually expanded over the coming months. German casualties on D-Day have been estimated at 4,000 to 9,000 men. Allied casualties were at least 10,000, with 4,414 confirmed dead.

HONR-ETF

Hoorah! HONR ETF; ESG is Now the New Normal For Institutional Investors

ETFs $HONR and $VETS advance an intriguing investment thesis: companies that stand up for military veterans outperform their peers.

Much like the view that women-led VC firms tend to outperform their male-dominated competitors, the thesis for investing in a culture-centric portfolio of companies is an approach now used by a broad spectrum of leading institutional investors. Dubbed “ESG” (Environmental, Social and Governance), the acronym refers to the three central factors in measuring the sustainability and ethical impact of an investment in a company or business. According to proponents, these criteria help to better determine the future financial performance of companies (return and risk). Of the 1500+ exchange-traded funds, only a small percentage provide a vehicle by which investors can express their interest in companies based on their cultural criteria. And, within the context of a thematic ETF comprised of companies that stand-out with respect to their leanings towards military veterans, there are only two ETFs to choose from.

Offering accolades to public companies that stand out for recruiting and supporting military veterans as well as active service members is no longer just a virtue, it is, according to more than a few experts, a winning investment strategy. Insightshares led the charge with the launch last January of InsightShares Patriotic Employers ETF (NYSEARCA:HONR), which is comprised of approximately 100 constituents and comes with an expense ratio of 0.65%. In April of 2018, ETF firm Pacer introduced The Pacer Military Times Best Employers ETF, $VETS–an index of 37 companies that is heavily-weighted with financial, industrial and information technology companies has an expense ratio of 0.60%

Truth be told, the performance for both of these funds correlates to the S&P 500, the distinction is an investment in these ETFs includes a proxy to support carefully-vetted veteran-centric philanthropies, as both donate 10 percent of the management fee to military-related charities.

Matt Villarreal, Head of Equity Trading for Mischler Financial Group, the industry’s oldest broker dealer owned & operated by Service-Disabled Veterans stated, “The constituents of the two respective veteran-centric ETFs include the most recognized and most widely-held Fortune corporations, which infers overall performance will correlate to major indices. The thesis that select companies that occupy thought-leadership positions when it comes to hiring military veterans and having former military officers in senior roles is easily defended. Companies that prominently support the military veteran community generally have higher employee morale and evoke higher customer embracement when compared to peers. The best part of these ETFs is they also have a dedicated mission to support veteran philanthropies, which proves crucial to the folks who have put themselves in harm’s way to protect the rest of us.”

Rich Cea, Head of Insightshares provides his perspective courtesy of a recent FOX Business Interview:

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From The Halls of Montezuma-to the Floors of the NYSE

US Marine veteran of Operation Just Cause and Operation Desert Storm and veteran NYSE floor trader enlists with designated market-maker GTS with rank of Global Market Commentator

From the USMC to the NYSE, Mark Otto re-defines the phrase ‘veteran’ when considering his pedigree as a highly-decorated former US Marine and the 25 years of financial industry service he’s racked up since hanging up his gun belt. Former Marine Corporal Otto saw combat throughout his 4 years as an enlisted solider (first 1989 Panama Invasion “Operation Just Cause”and thereafter, Operation Desert Storm and then parachuted into the line of fire on the global financial industry’s most iconic battle field: the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange. After three tours of duty serving under the commands of NYSE floor specialists Susquehanna Group, Knight Capital and J. Streicher, Otto will now be serving under a new command, he’s just signed on with the veteran-friendly NYSE Designated Market-Maker, GTS where Otto will have the rank Global Market Commentator.  In November, GTS announced they had secured a minority stake in veteran-owned investment bank and institutional brokerage, Mischler Financial Group

Excerpt from the Jan 17 ,2019 press release is below:

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Mark Otto-from the USMC to NYSE

NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–GTS, a leading electronic market maker across global financial instruments, today announced the addition of U.S. Marine Corps combat veteran and experienced equities trader Mark Otto as the firm’s first Global Market Commentator.

As Global Market Commentator for GTS, Otto will combine his specialty of trading American depositary receipts (“ADR”), algorithmic trading, market making and volatility trading with his experience trading in times of historic geopolitical events and market turmoil such as the 2008 Financial Crisis, the Flash Crash, the Greek Debt Crisis, Eurozone Debt Crisis and Brexit to provide market commentary on current trends and their impact on the securities markets.

“I am thrilled to continue my career on the NYSE with GTS,” Mark Otto said, “So much of the pricing of stocks results from international developments and interconnected global economies. It’s an honor for me to share my commentary and views as part of the GTS platform. The firm is a pioneer in bringing innovation to the marketplace and it is an incredible opportunity for me to be teaming up with such an important player in the global capital markets ecosystem.”

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US Marine Corps Veteran and NYSE floor veteran Mark Otto

Between 1988 and 1992, Otto served under the 2nd Surveillance Renaissance and Intelligence Group based out of Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. During his military service, Otto saw combat during the Panama Invasion and Operation Desert Storm, as well as leading surveillance teams observing and securing U.S. boarders in support of Federal Law Enforcement agencies. Otto received over a dozen military decorations and achievements, including the Combat Action Ribbon with Gold Star, Joint Meritorious Unit Commendation and Airborne Jump Wings.

GTS is the largest Designated Market Maker (“DMM”) at the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) and has an extensive track record of responsibly using best-of-class technology to bring better price discovery, trade execution and transparency to the markets. At the NYSE, GTS is responsible for the trading in more than 900 public companies that have a total market capitalization of approximately $13 trillion dollars. Listed securities include blue chip companies ranging from ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM) and Ford (NYSE: F) to international companies such as Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) to leading global technology companies like Oracle (NYSE: ORCL) and AT&T (NYSE: T).

If you’ve got a hot insider tip, a bright idea, or if you’d like to get visibility for your brand through MarketsMuse via subliminal content marketing, advertorial, blatant shout-out, spotlight article, news release etc., please reach out to our Senior Editor via cmo@marketsmuse.com

To read the full press release, click here

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Fortune CEOs Take Unequivocal Stand; This BD Bids On

Taking a Unequivocal Stand is Easier for Fortune CEOs than for POTUS–so it seems. Fortune 500 CEOs who have taken exception to erratic and equivocal statements made by the current sitting president of the United States have been systematically subjected to ‘assault by Twitter’ by the country’s CEO-in-Chief. In turn, their company’s share prices have suffered from sell-offs, as investors fear the “wrath of Trump” will extend to federal government actions intended to harm those companies who have failed to heed Mr. Trump’s so-called “lectures.” Attacks and Counter-Attacks via Twitter has become a contact sport, all thanks to “POTUS.”

Within the context of Wall Street firms, “un-biased and conflict-free” are two phrases that agency-only broker-dealers advance on a continuous basis. These phrases connote their conforming to a fiduciary posture that is intended to protect the interests of their client above all else. When it comes to political discourse, most broker-dealers are loathe to insert themselves in a political fracas, yet other BDs are run by folks whose moral compass overrides their need to keep quiet, regardless of the risk that a regulatory agency such as the SEC or FTC (overseen by Congress) will , at the urging of Mr. Trump, exact some type of revenge for challenging the current president. Courtesy of BrokerDealer.com Editorial Section, MarketsMuse editors join those who are taking the high road, and in that effort, we’re re-distributing a piece that profiles a unique broker-dealer’s viewpoint expressed via trading desk commentary and distributed to their Fortune treasury clients and the leading Wall Street ‘book-runners’. We’ll defer to our readers to click on links leading back to the minority broker-dealer in question. Hint-the firm is the oldest minority broker-dealer owned/operated by Service-Disabled Veterans.

A Special Editorial from BrokerDealer.com: Most Fortune CEOs, as well as leaders of Investment Banks and Broker-Dealers (aka BD) are typically loathe to take a political stand. For the former, making pronouncements that will raise the ire of the current president are likely to be met by “injury by twitter,” or worse still, federal agency scrutiny of the company, which could prove devastating for public company shareholders. For the universe of corporate leaders with a conscience and also recognized thought-leaders, only a few have yet to prove unequivocal when reacting to the equivocal comment made by President Trump when framing his first view of what US Attorney General Sessions labeled as a”domestic terror event.” We’re referring to the white supremacist rally that led to 3 deaths and multiple injuries in Charlottesville, VA this past weekend.

For investment banks and broker-dealers, let’s face it-politics and business mix best with each other when done over cocktails or discrete ‘off-site’ meetings to discuss new capital market initiatives, deal issuance and/or asset management mandates. After all, most traditional broker-dealers eschew taking a political stand that opposes the federal government administration, simply out of fear that the long lips of the current WH CEO will whisper to administration-appointed SEC bureaucrats with a message akin to ‘the right industry regulator might want to make this [firm] go away..” Most, but not all is the catchphrase that compels a re-distribution of a capital markets desk commentary that focuses on fixed income markets and along with a smidgen of geopolitical observations and delivered to a captive group of leading Fortune 500 corporate treasurers, as well as a select group of sell-side syndicate desk ‘book-runners’.

Sponsored by Prospectus.com. Our team of capital markets experts and securities lawyers specialize in preliminary offering prospectus, secondary offering prospectus and full menu of financial offering memorandum document preparation. More information via this link

Here’s the extract of the day’s piece, titled “Risk On, Risk Off, US-NOKO Tensions Subside; Ugly Heads of Racism Take Top Headline…”

Investment Grade Corporate Debt New Issue Re-Cap – A View About Charlottesville and the Aftermath

Risk was clearly back on in the financial markets today, as U.S./NOKO tensions fell to the wayside.  Unfortunately prejudice and racism reared their ugly heads in the Charlottesville, Virginia riot over the weekend.  On Monday, Fortune 500 thought leaders Ken Frazier, CEO of Merck & C0., Brian Krzanich, CEO of Intel, and Kevin Plank, CEO of Under Armour each took a stand by protesting the ‘equivocal’ comments made by President Trump in his first response to the domestic terrorism acts in Charlottesville, which were advanced by self-proclaimed alt-right and white supremacist neo-Nazis.  Mischler Financial Group  stands with every corporate executive (and every duly-elected or duly-appointed government official) who stays true to genuinely right-minded beliefs and applauds their respective organization’s dedication to doing right by doing good. In case you missed the memo, many of America’s Fortune corporations adhere to this same notion and advance their commitment via proactive Diversity & Inclusion initiatives.

 

For those corporate executives who may have spent all of their undergrad time in finance and accounting classes, and for those who are perhaps not as familiar as they could be i.e. American History (let’s not forget to mention world history, too!), racism and bigotry are diseases that spew hatefulness and cannot be allowed in a free and democratic society. The incendiary and incite-full actions for which the various white supremacist and KKK groups are notorious for, are NOT protected by “First Amendment rights.* These are cancers that cannot be discounted or condoned via equivocal platitudes; simple right-mindedness demands they be eradicated.

(*Think Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr i.e. Schenck v United States and also re-visit Brandenburg v. Ohio)

 

To the above point, one need only re-read the Constitution and the Bill of Rights to appreciate that D&I is part and parcel to our country’s DNA. It is also part of the cultural foundation of many Fortune 500 corporations, including Intel, including Merck, including Under Armour and including many others! D&I infers respect for and appreciation of differences in ethnicity, gender, age, national origin, disability, sexual orientation, education, and religion. But it’s more than this. We all bring with us diverse perspectives, work experiences, life styles and cultures and we presumably all share a disdain for anyone and any group that attempts to dismantle, disrupt and or destroy. Kudos to Mssrs. Frazier, Krzanich and Plank for putting themselves in harm’s way and risk of “injury by Twitter” for being true leaders and staying true to their convictions and their constituents.

 

Kudos also to the many Fortune executives who have raised their own voices to advocate on behalf of right mindedness, and to those corporate executives such as Jamie Dimon, CEO of Citigroup, who have opted not to resign their volunteer roles serving on “Presidential Councils” in protest to seemingly wrong-headed rhetoric. One can hope they have chosen to remain in their roles so that they can be that much more proactive in their WH-appointed roles and/or similar presidential councils in which they serve as volunteers. These are jobs these business leaders have [presumably] accepted to better the country, not to help advance any political platform or political agenda. How the US Secretary of the Treasury or the Director of the National Economic Council can square the so-called ‘equivocal’ views expressed by the CEO-In-Chief vs. their own cultural beliefs will likely be subject to ongoing self-reflection, external speculation and spirited debate. These are smart folks and optimism demands these administration officials be given the benefit of the doubt, just as it is incumbent on any/every corporate leader to serve as role models for employees, customers and clients; just as right-minded parents do for their own children.

 

Today’s VIX closed 3 bps tighter versus Friday’s close. Also a reminder that tomorrow is August 15th – “mid-August” – that’s when North Korea’s illustrious “bad boy” proclaimed that he’d have his master plan ready to bomb Guam developed by.  One week from today on Monday, August 21st begin joint U.S-South Korean military exercises referred to as Ulchi-Freedom Guardian. The exercise began in our Bicentennial year of 1976. North Korea has annually perceived the joint exercise as “preparation for war.” It is the world’s largest computerized command control implementation. Up to 80,000 American and South Korean troops have participated in this exercise in the recent past.  The game will go on for two weeks before concluding on Thursday August 31st.  Enjoy the show Mr. Jong-Un. You’ll have front row seats though I recommend binoculars. Here’s lookin’ at you kid!  To continue reading the day’s debt market commentary, click here

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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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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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Corporate Debt Watch: Toyota Landmark Deal

On the heels of this past week’s near record-breaking investment grade corporate debt issuance courtesy of multiple Fortune companies who are seizing the moment insofar as the current low rate regime, Toyota Motor Credit Corp (TMCC), the financing arm of the world’s largest car maker did something different yesterday in the course of floating a 3-tranche, $2.5billion offering: TMCC designated the industry’s top five minority firms who specialize in debt capital markets to co-lead the 3 part transaction, for which Citigroup Global Markets served as stabilizing lead.

Why did TMCC defer underwriting and distribution of a $2.5bil issuance to minority-certified dealers who can only aspire to “6-Pack” notoriety and presence? After all, a $2.5bil isn’t just chopped liver. One reason is that the leaders of Toyota’s North American division have long held that a corporate culture that puts diversity and inclusion (D&I) on a pedestal is a critical component to being a best-in-class corporation. They aren’t alone. SoCal Ed, Exelon, Entergy, Southern Companies are other non-financial companies that promote this notion. In the financial industry, BNY Mellon, Citi and Goldman are most frequently mentioned for their embracing the importance of diversity across their ranks.

That said, TMCC has made it a point of repeatedly demonstrating they ‘get the joke’ when it comes to D&I. This is best illustrated via their global employee count, the profiles of their dealership operators and obviously, their customer base. Corporate Leadership experts have repeatedly documented via an assortment of metrics that the most successful companies within industry peer groups are those whose intellectual and financial investment towards promotion of D&I are the greatest.

This isn’t to suggest there are not a big bunch of big name companies who claim to embrace D&I, yet in reality, merely pay lip service to the concept. After all, nearly every Fortune 100 company and many of the ‘500’ have a senior executive whose title is Head of Diversity & Inclusion. It makes for great branding and corporate communications. That said, when it comes to capital market transactions (versus vendors who provide office supplies), mandates are handed out to minority firms in a manner similar to handing out crumbs ala a Charles Dickens novel. A large number of Fortune CFOs and Corporate Treasury officers generally defer to their lead 6-pack banks for underwriting and will posit that any D&I goals their companies might have “don’t include their job responsibilities.”

Many will argue that type of attitude is a big mistake, if only because, as TMCC executives have long acknowledged, the importance of placing bonds or new issue stocks with middle-market investment managers, such as public plan sponsors is a critical objective. Issuers want to place their offerings with folks having long term outlooks vs. opportunistic or activist managers. And, because bulge-bracket investment banks now primarily focus on the largest investment management firms, those 2nd and 3rd tier investment management firms often do not get covered by the big banks, and consequently, do not have the opportunity to participate in primary debt issuance. Too frequently, they are relegated to buying safer fixed income products in the secondary market–at a mark-up vs. the original issuance.

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Ron Quigley, Mgn.Dir. Mischler Financial Group

As noted in a post-transaction color commentary courtesy of Ron Quigley, Head of Fixed Income Syndicate for TMCC co-lead manager Mischler Financial Group, the sell side’s oldest service-disabled veteran owned/operated firm:

“Toyota’s Treasury team made their objectives and ground rules abundantly clear last week on a joint call.  TMCC’s National Manager, Debt Capital Markets, Kate Oddo said, “TMCC is looking at this deal for best execution and via underwriters who meet our corporate needs insofar as diversity and includsion. Towards that objective, we are looking to differentiate our investor base from the bulge bracket underwriters. As markets continue to evolve and shift while remaining volatile, TMCC also sees a shift in its front end strategy.  We are no longer seeing the typical front end reverse inquiry that we saw in the past.”  Ergo TMCC announced yet another D&I or Diversity and Inclusion new issue. “

The minority firms selected in TMCCs group for the third time included Mischler Financial Group, Inc., the nation’s oldest Service Disabled veteran broker-dealer and 3x winner of Wall Street Letter’s Annual Award for Best BrokerDealer/Research along with, CastleOak Securities, Lebenthal & Co., LLC, Samuel A. Ramirez & Company, Inc., The Williams Capital Group, L.P.

For the full commentary and deal drill down courtesy of Mischler’s Ron Quigley, please click here

 

bny-mellon-mischler

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.

colleen-krieger-bny
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.

vetedchallenge crowdrise

Hedge Fund Honcho Behind Crowdfund for Veterans Education

Marathon Asset Management CEO Bruce Richards Leads Crowdfund Campaign for “Veterans Education Challenge”

Hedge Fund Honcho Will Match $1mm Raised via Crowdfunding Platform CrowdRise

(RaiseMoney.com) For those Wall Street sharks and finance industry wonks who haven’t yet received the memo about crowdfunding, you might want to dial in to hedge fund industry icon Bruce Richards, Co-Founder and CEO of Marathon Asset Management, the $12.5 billion investment firm that specializes in global credit markets. Richards, whose pedigree includes 15 years in senior trading desk roles for top Wall Street banks before migrating to the world of hedge fund management in 1998, is not only at the helm of one of the investment industry’s most successful and most philanthropic fund managers, he’s just promised to personally match the first $1million raised on crowdfund site Crowdrise for “Veterans Education Challenge”; a campaign dedicated exclusively to funding college scholarships for US military veterans.

Marathon Asset Mgt
Bruce Richards, Marathon Asset Mgt

The fund raising campaign, announced this past week in conjunction with the celebration of Veterans Day 2015, seeks to raise at least $1mil within the next 12 months, according to the campaign information at crowdfund platform Crowdrise, one of the industry’s leading charitable donation portals co-founded in 2010 by film industry icon and social activist Edward Norton. The goal for the Veterans Education Challenge is to provide scholarship funding for any veterans at 4-year accredited starting the coming school year. This $1 million matching contribution will remain in place until November 11, 2016, next year’s Veterans Day.

In a special note sent to recipients of Richards’ email distribution list, one that typically provides Marathon clients with the firm’s widely-sought insight to global credit markets, Richards provided a starkly compelling investment thesis as to the importance of supporting advanced education for US military members and the need to insure their successful transition into private sector roles in ways the US Government often falls short in providing. In addition to pointing investment firm clients and friends to the Veterans Education Challenge Crowdrise page, Richards encouraged his followers to help advance awareness of the campaign’s FaceBook page and to enlist their following the Twitter account for VetEdChallenge via @VetEdChallenge.

One such recipient of Richards’ outreach included Dean Chamberlain, the Chief Executive of Mischler Financial Group, the securities industry’s oldest investment bank owned and operated by Service-Disabled Veterans and a firm widely-known for underwriting philanthropic causes that benefit military veterans and their families. Stated Chamberlain, “I’ve known Bruce for nearly twenty five years and I commend his philanthropic leadership. I wholeheartedly endorse and have already made my contribution to the VetEdChallenge crowdfund campaign and I will encourage others to follow suit.”

Richards, along with his wife Avis, an award-winning documentary film producer and director and the founder of Birds Nest Foundation, are considered to be one of New York’s top society couples. They are widely-credited by hedge fund peers for their philanthropic thought-leadership. Marathon Asset Management, whose two other leaders include co-founder Louis Hanover and Andrew Rabinowitz, Marathon’s COO is repeatedly lauded for the firm’s culture of supporting critical philanthropic missions that benefit health and welfare social causes.

For the full story, please visit RaiseMoney.com

veterans day

How One Wall St Firm Honors Veterans Day

9 November (BrokerDealer.com)–Broker-Dealer Mischler Financial Group (“Mischler”) , the securities industry’s oldest minority investment bank and institutional brokerage owned and operated by Service-Disabled Veterans announced that in connection with the firm’s annual recognition of Veteran’s Day, Mischler has pledged a portion of the firm’s entire November 2015 profits to The Bob Woodruff Foundation (“BWF”), the national non-profit established by the award-winning ABC News journalist Bob Woodruff and his wife, Lee Woodruff. Mischler contributes more than 10% of the firm’s profits to disabled veteran initiatives throughout each year.

Mischler Financial’s pledge to Bob Woodruff Foundation coincides with the firm’s ongoing sponsorship of Veterans on Wall Street (VOWS), the financial industry’s leading advocacy dedicated to mentoring and career development of military veterans who transition to the financial services industry.

dean chamberlain
Dean Chamberlain, CEO Mischler Financial Group

In a statement by Mischler Financial Chief Executive Dean Chamberlain, a former US Army Captain and a U.S. Military Academy at West Point graduate,  “Our continued commitment to Bob Woodruff Foundation, as well as our role at VOWS, is based on our legacy of re-directing firm profits to support what we believe are the most crucial, service-disabled veteran programs. Our giving back strategy targets four discrete objectives; direct financial support that can be truly impactful, career building and mentorship, advancing veteran-centric legislative initiatives, and working with major corporations to help guide their respective internal veteran mentoring and community outreach programs.”

Added Chamberlain, “The fact that our institutional trading desk clients make it a point to support our philanthropic mission serves as inspiration for all of our team members and underscores a shared alignment with causes that are critical to our nation’s veteran community; for that we are greatly appreciative.”

Entire release at http://mischlerfinancial.com/category/news-and-information-mischler-financial-service-disabled-veteran-owned-minority-broker-dealer/giving-back-service-disabled-veterans/

marketsmuse fixed income comment re SAB Miller deal

MarketsMuse -Timing of ABIBB for SABLN Deal

Guest Contributor and fixed income markets muse Ron Quigley, Managing Director of Fixed Income Syndicate for diversity firm Mischler Financial Group offers a Glass of Insight to the likely timing of the ABBIB acquisition of SABLN (AnheuserBusch proposed takeover of brewer SAB Miller). Below commentary is an extract from 15 October edition of Quigley’s Corner, the nom de guerre of daily debt market commentary distributed to Fortune 100 corporate treasurers, leading investment management firms, and the top fixed income deal bookrunners on Wall Street.

Timing of ABIBB for SABLN Deal

ron quigley, mischler financial, marketsmuse
Ron Quigley, Mgn.Dir. Mischler Financial Group

There’s been a lot of conjecturing as to the timing of the Anheuser-Busch InBev NV (A2/A) for SAB Miller plc (A3/A-) deal.  That should be expected.  After all, since SAB Miller accepted ABIBB’s s $106b takeover price on Tuesday, the buyer announced it will issue a corporate record $55b in debt to finance the takeover.  I have subsequently been asked by many what my thoughts on timing are so why not share them with you as well?

There is a six week window before Thanksgiving after which things begin to slow down although I think this year, the first two weeks in December will be more robust than in prior years.  Rates will be lower-for-much-longer and as we approach year end issuer’s will jump in to secure great financing before the busy start to 2016. Now, Anheuser-Busch InBev NV deal for SAB Miller plc regulatory hurdles could certainly slow down the $55b in ABIBB issuance until next year.  Recall that Carlsberg faced one year of regulatory harangues before it completed its takeover.  However, assuming $1.25 trillion in total 2016 U.S. Corporate issuance, or more, the transaction represents 4.4% of that volume!  Heck, we all find it hard to earn 4.4% interest on our own money!……Just to put 4.4% into the proper perspective.  In addition, can the current marketplace absorb $55b in issuance?  Today for example, many market participants were shocked at the relative absence of any IG primary calendar. Today’s session only hosted three issuers at a time when just yesterday we came off of the first back-to-back double digit billion dollar days for IG Corporate new issuance in five weeks dating back to September 8th thru the 10th!  As one market professional quipped to me this morning, “hey it’s free money for them (ABIBB) so they can do this anytime!”  No one can answer to the speed of regulatory hurdles but we all know when it comes to regulatory anything it means much more time.  In this case the takeover has to meet muster with global regulators.  For that reason alone we’ll see the deal print sometime next year.

The overall markets are also still very fidgety in here, although IG Corporate new issuance seemed to be moving in the right direction judging from the past two days and today’s session was especially impressive, albeit there were only three issues. There are concerns with IPOs not getting off the ground.  For that, I point directly to yesterday’s pulled IPO for Albertsons Cos.  In addition, First Data Corp’s lower than desired IPO priced at $16 vs. the $18 to $20 per share it sought and Neiman Marcus’s decision to wait on its IPO.  First Data’s $2.6b IPO was the largest of 2015 and nearly twice that of runner-up Tallgrass Energy’s $1.4b IPO last May.  Lest we forget that yesterday Wal-Mart shocked the investment community by forecasting a drop in 2016 earnings. Shares were pummeled down 10% and Q3 corporate earnings, for the most part, have missed with downward revised forward forecasts.

Dell Inc. (Ba3/BB+) also announced an up to $67b cash and stock deal to acquire EMC Corp. (A1/A).  Dell is heard to be planning a total of $45bn in debt to consummate the deal.  Net, net, not only ABIBB but Dell also stands to make billions from these deals so even “if” regulatory approval is unbelievably, almost unreasonably expeditious and the green light is given, both will leave big NICs on the table to get their deals done.  As for the banks and the respective fees they stand to garner before year end, should timing be sooner rather than later on both transactions, well………..it’s a no brainer for them folks.  The combined ABIBB for SABLN and Dell for EMC deals represent 8% of an entire year’s worth of IG Corporate issuance!  Digest that for a moment….Did you hear that?.CHA-CHING! How badly would investment banks love to have those profits on their 2015 books?

For the entire Oct 15 edition of Quigley’s Corner, please click here

Structured Products Percolate; Search For Yield Leads to Diversity Firm Expansion

MarketsMuse Fixed Income Dept. is keeping tabs on industry updates and re-distributes the following news release courtesy of Mischler Financial Group, the financial industry’s leading minority brokerdealer owned and operated by service-disabled veterans.

Stamford, CT—July 22, 2015—Mischler Financial Group, Inc., the financial industry’s oldest and largest minority investment bank and institutional brokerage owned and operated by Service-Disabled Veterans announced that Patrick Beranek, a 20-year industry veteran and most recently the head of Asset-Backed trading for Royal Bank of Scotland (“RBS”) has joined the firm’s capital markets division as Managing Director, Structured Products.

Mr. Beranek previously ran asset-backed trading and syndicate for Mizuho Financial Group Inc. and Bank of America Corp. Prior to those senior sell-side roles, Mr. Beranek was a portfolio manager for Federal National Home Mortgage Corp (FNMA). In this newly-created role at Mischler Financial, Mr. Beranek will oversee primary market activities of structured products. He will report to Robert Karr, Mischler’s Head of Capital Markets.

In connection with the latest expansion, Mr. Karr stated, “The ABS market has undergone a dynamic reset during the past several years, creating new opportunities. Given current economic drivers, a longer-term interest rate outlook and the demand for quality, non-core fixed income instruments, we’re confident that Pat will prove instrumental in the course of elevating Mischler’s role in the primary market for structured products and help bring compelling opportunities to our institutional investor base.”

Added Dean Chamberlain, CEO of Mischler Financial, “We are very pleased to add Pat to our team. Having worked with him before, I know that he has a unique skill-set that will further bolster our structured finance capabilities.”

For the full story, please visit the Mischler Financial Group website via this link

Broker-Dealer Gives Back: Fundraising Yields $20k Payout for Semper Fi Fund

BrokerDealer Gives Back and Pays It Forward; Mischler Financial’s “Memorial Day Month” Pledge Yields $20k for Semper Fi Fund.

MarketsMuse is honored to be the first financial industry news outlet to report an inspiring story that profiles thought-leadership on the part of boutique brokerdealer, Mischler Financial Group and their financial support of Semper Fi Fund.

Mischler Financial Group, Inc., the institutional brokerage and investment banking boutique and the securities industry’s oldest firm owned and operated by Service-Disabled Veterans, presented a check last week to Semper Fi Fund in the amount of $20,000 as a follow-on to the firm’s previously announced “Memorial Day Month” pledge.

Mischler Prez Doyle Holmes (l), Semper Fi Fund VP Wendy Lethin (c), Mischler CEO Dean Chamberlain (SDV)
Mischler Prez Doyle Holmes (l), Semper Fi Fund VP Wendy Lethin (c), Mischler CEO Dean Chamberlain (SDV)

According to Mischler CEO Dean Chamberlain, a U.S. Military Academy alumni and a certified Service-Disabled Vet (SDV), “Our ongoing mission throughout our now, twenty-year history has always been to provide Fortune Treasury and investment management clients with stand-apart capital markets services and by extension, to share the benefits of our success with organizations that are dedicated to supporting service-disabled military veterans and their families in the most productive ways.” Added Chamberlain, “Semper Fi Fund is exactly the type of organization that we are honored to align with and we’re thrilled that so many of our clients rallied behind our trading desks to express their support of this month-long fund raising initiative.”

The Semper Fi Fund, and its program America’s Fund, provide immediate financial assistance and lifetime support to post 9/11 wounded, critically ill and injured members of all branches of the U.S. Armed Forces, and their families, ensuring that they have the resources they need during their recovery and transition back to their communities.

Since its 2004 formation led by a group of Marine Corps spouses, Semper Fi Fund has provided more than 93,500 grants, totaling more than $109 million in assistance to over 14,000 of our heroes and their families. Recipients include qualifying post 9/11 Marines, Sailors, Soldiers, Airmen, Coast Guardsmen, and reservists with amputations, spinal cord injuries, Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), severe Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), burns, blindness, other physical injuries, or those suffering from life-threatening illnesses. Semper Fi Fund also help spouses and children of active duty service members who face a life threatening illness or injury.

Boutique BrokerDealer Pays Homage To Veterans; Memorial Day Pledge to Semper Fi Fund

MarketsMuse update is courtesy of a truly inspiring initiative on the part of Mischler Financial Group, the broker-dealer industry’s oldest firm owned and operated by Wall Street vets who are also Service-Disabled Veterans.

Mischler Financial Memorial Day Month Pledge: May Profits to Semper Fi Fund

For Immediate Release

Newport Beach, CA & Stamford, CT, May 12, 2015–Mischler Financial Group (“MFG”), the securities industry’s oldest minority investment bank and institutional brokerage owned and operated by Service-Disabled Veterans announced that in recognition of the upcoming Memorial Day celebration, the firm has pledged a percentage of its entire May profits to The Semper Fi Fund, a nationwide organization that provides immediate financial assistance and lifetime support to post 9/11 wounded, critically ill and injured members of all branches of the U.S. Armed Forces, and their families.

Since its establishment in 2004, the The Semper Fi Fund has issued more than 91,500 grants, totaling more than $107 million in assistance to over 13,800 of our heroes and their families. The Semper Fi Fund has been awarded the highest ratings from the leading charity organization watch dog groups, including an A+ Rating from CharityWatch.com, and 4-Star rating from CharityNavigator.com, the very highest ranking only given to 4% of all philanthropic organizations by the nation’s largest and most-utilized evaluator of charities. Semper Fi Fund is also considered “a top tier organization” by The Fisher House Foundation, one of the philanthropy community’s most recognized thought-leaders. Continue reading

Investors Take a Big Bite Of Apple Inc Debt Issuance-And Love It; MarketsMuse

MarketsMuse Fixed Income update profiles Apple Inc latest bond issuance courtesy of late afternoon desk notes distributed to institutional clients of deal co-manager Mischler Financial Group, the financial industry’s oldest and arguably largest boutique Finra member firm that is owned and operated by Service-Disabled Veterans. MarketsMuse Editors are compelled to add at the outset: The term “Service-Disabled” is a terrible misnomer that the US Dept of Defense should consider changing.

The vast majority of these veterans are ‘disabled’ only within the construct of the certification that is awarded to members of the military who were injured in the line of duty and since relieved from serving in active duty roles. Without discounting the sacrifices that so many veterans have made while serving in our military, sacrifices that have permanently altered their lives and those of their families consequent to truly debilitating injuries sustained, thousands of veterans who were injured in one way or another and who have since returned to the workforce have proven time and again that they are not only fully-able, but they are 110% “mission capable” and “mission ready” whenever provided the opportunity to demonstrate their trained skills and talents within private sector roles.

Moreover, SDVs can be found in leadership roles across the Fortune landscape, including CEO, CFO and corporate treasury positions at the world’s leading companies. We make note of this because the world’s most recognized company, Apple Inc. made the same note of this when appointing Mischler Financial to serve within the ranks of today’s cast of underwriters who helped bring this $8 billion, multi-tranche bond deal to the institutional investor marketplace. Without further ado, below is a short extract from Mischler’s nightly edition of debt capital market commentary, “Quigley’s Corner”

Ron Quigley, Mischler Financial
Ron Quigley, Mischler Financial

Two mega deals hit the tapes early this morning led by an $8b 7-part from Apple Inc. and a $10b 6-part from Shell International Finance.  There were a total of 8 IG Corporate issuers that tapped the dollar DCM to price 20 tranches totaling $21.525b bringing the WTD total to more than 14% more than the syndicate midpoint forecast or $45.125b vs. $39.34b.  Meanwhile, the Kingdom of Sweden also added $2.25b from the SSA space with a new 3-year bringing the all-in IG day totals to 9 issuers, 21 tranches and $23.775b.

New Record: Quickest In History to the Half Trillion Dollar Mark!

Today marks a landmark in the history of IG issuance – It is the earliest time in any year that we reached the $500 billion issuance mark.  YTD IG Corporate-only volume now stands at $510.797 billion! Investor appetite for the stability of higher rated credits and especially those from Corporate America is beyond robust. Congratulations to Apple for their help in putting us on top with this new and very impressive record!  Well-timed and well-priced no doubt!  YTD all-in IG issuance (Corporates plus SSA) is now $634.407 billion.  Not too shabby folks!

Investor’s Bite the Apple – And Like It Alot! A Look at Today’s 6-Part Demand

Apple Final Book Sizes Bid-to-Cover Rate Final Pricing Currently Trading
2yr FRN 590m 2.36x 3mL+5 issue bid
2yr FXD 2600m 3.47x +30 30/28
5yr FRN 840m 1.68x 3mL+30 $100.05/
5yr FXD 2900m 2.32x +45 44/42
7yr FXD 2900m 2.32x +75 75/73
10yr FXD 5850m 2.925x +100 99/97
30yr FXD 5300m 2.65x +140 141/139

A redacted version of Quigley’s Corner, including a synopsis of the day’s investment grade corporate bond market activity is available via Mischler Financial Group’s website.

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

Fixed Income Fix: Calculating Credit Spreads

MarketsMuse fixed income fix is courtesy of extract from Mischler Financial Group Mar 17 desk notes aka “Quigley’s Corner”  and authored by Ron Quigley, Managing Director and Head of Fixed Income Syndicate for this boutique brokerdealer owned and operated by Service-Disabled Veterans and recipient of Wall Street Letter’s 2015 Award for Best Research/Broker Dealer.

Ron Quigley Mischler Financial
Ron Quigley
Mischler Financial

IG Primary Market Talking Points – M&A Leads The Way re Debt Market Issuance; Deep Dive Into Credit Spreads– An Interesting Read Folks

  • M&A represented 7 out of 10 tranches today, and 80.60% of today’s IG new issue volume with the well telegraphed “biggie” being the Merck KGaA deal.  The German pharma giant issued a $4 billion five-part thru its EMD Finance LLC. Moody’s “Baa1” rating followed the agency’s one-notch December downgrade of Merck KGaA.  Leverage from Merck’s acquisition will increase to 4.5x from 1.8x.  Hence, order books closed at a very modest $6.1 billion or 1.52-times oversubscribed. Market participants anticipated much stronger demand for this top pharma-linked name. It was the credit story that saw demand slip and a complete absence of spread compression throughout price discovery.
  • APT Pipelines issued a two-part $1.4 billion 10s/20s transaction today, proceeds of which will be used to partly fund the Queensland Curtis LNG Pipeline acquisition. The deal was re-launched and increased to $1.1 billion from $1 billion, but also illustrated another M&A deal that offered no compression at all from IPTs to the launch.
  • Campbell’s Soup also issued today following a 32-month absence from the DCM.  Today’s deal carried lower Moody’s ratings than their prior transaction due to softer sales in the Company’s soups and beverages units.  The agency said ratings could be further pressured in the near future in part due to a more challenging operating environment coupled with potential acquisitions and share repurchases.  The final books on Campbell were $375mm or 1.25x bid-to-cover……..for an issuer that hadn’t tapped the DCM in over two and a half years!  Again, a credit story as opposed to overall market mechanics.
  • The reason for the aforementioned deal color is because investors chimed in today that some deals seemed to be struggling or not quite meeting with the demand that many market participants anticipated.  There are indeed definite signs of indigestion given the back-to-back record $50bn weeks of new product we just came out of.
  • Furthermore, taking a look at last Friday’s secondary trading performance of last week’s IG and SSA new issuance, of the 79 deals that priced, only 39 (49%) tightened versus new issue pricing while 26 or 33% widened and 14 (18%) were flat.
  • A word about spreads – S&P Global Fixed Income Research was unchanged.  A ha!  What gives here readers?  Great question and here’s the answer:  Despite the widening across all four major IG asset classes and 16 of the 19 major industries, S&P’s method for computing spreads is a composite method as opposed to an index so, each series actually runs independently as opposed to the smaller parts being “components” of the “aggregate.”  Therefore with respect to movements in the “AAA”, “AA”, “A” and “BBB” or industry spreads that tend to move in tandem with an investment-grade spread, it doesn’t necessarily have to be the case – it’s all a matter of how the math works out that particular day.  So, while many saw IG Corporate spreads push out 1bp, a widely used S&P Index was flat creating the false expectation of a relatively neutral market.
  • The average spread compression across today’s 10 IG Corporate-only new issues was 3.90 bps from IPTs to the launch.  That’s a 10.23 bps swing from last week’s average 14.13 bps compression across 72 IG Corporate issuers and that’s thanks to the two large M&A related transactions that priced in today’s session.

What’s the net conclusion of all this techno fodder?  Is it a question of market indigestion, or is it more the individual credit stories today?  I believe despite, some indigestion, it IS the latter.

So, it’s business as usual.  This week will be very busy as anticipated and today’s several isolated “story” new issues combined with some technical explanations of spread action should serve to extinguish any concern!  This is after all a financial “No Spin Zone!”  I know….I know….. It’s much more fun when I write about Vlad-the-Terrible, but I gotta cover my bases readers!

For the entire commentary courtesy of Mischler Financial Group, please click here

Wall Street’s Mischler Financial Announces Veteran’s Day Profit Pledge

Immediate News Release

Newport Beach, CA & Stamford, CT, November 3, 2014—Mischler Financial Group (“MFG”), the securities industry’s oldest minority investment bank and institutional brokerage owned and operated by Service-Disabled Veterans announced today that in connection with the firm’s annual recognition of Veteran’s Day, Mischler has expanded its giving-back program and will be supporting 3 separate non-profit organizations in honor of those who have served our country’s military.

dean1
CEO Dean Chamberlain, Mischler Financial Group

In a statement issued by Dean Chamberlain CEO and Principal of Mischler Financial Group, he said, “Through our ongoing commitment to Veterans on Wall Street (VOWS), this Veteran’s Day we are honored to pledge our financial support to The Bob Woodruff Foundation, whose mission is to ensure injured veterans and their families are thriving long after they return home. In addition, we are equally-honored to further extend our commitment to Children of Fallen Patriots, the organization dedicated to providing college scholarships and long-term educational counseling to children of fallen patriots. We also look forward to continuing our commitment to BuildOn.org, the non-profit devoted to inspiring our young generation to drive positive change through community service and education.”

About Mischler Financial Group

Headquartered in Newport Beach, California with regional offices in Stamford, CT, Boston, MA and Chicago, IL. Mischler Financial Group is a federally-certified minority broker-dealer and a Service-Disabled Veterans Business Enterprise that provides capital markets services, agency-only execution within the global equities and fixed income markets and asset management for liquid and alternative investment strategies. Clients of the firm include leading institutional investment managers, corporate and municipal treasurers, public plan sponsors, endowments, and foundations. The firm’s website is located at http://www.mischlerfinancial.com

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