Many muni investors feared that President Donald Trump’s big plans for an infrastructure revival would inundate the market with a new supply of municipal debt issuance.
Many were also concerned that Trump’s plans to lower income taxes would weaken the appeal of tax-exempt munis and that the president’s pro-growth agenda would push the Federal Reserve to hike interest rates sooner and faster.
“If history is anything to go by, tax reforms that have lowered personal taxes have led to no less interest in muni funds on the part of investors. Following the Tax Reform Act of 1986, signed into law by President Reagan on October 22 that year, investment in muni bonds by individuals did anything but fall,” according to VanEck.
For more information on the munis market, visit our municipal bonds category.