Anyone know the smart way to view and buy Muni offerings directly (e.g., not through a broker)? In other words, buy the municipal bonds directly from the municipality, city, town, etc. that's making the offer. Cut out the middle-man. What's the "Treasury Direct" of the Muni world? Thanks, Keith :^)
I don't think there is anything equivalent to Treasury Direct. Treasury Direct offers access to securities from one issuer: The United States Treasury. To have direct access to muni bonds, you would either have to have a platform that could host multiple municipal entities, or a few competing platforms, or... I dunno. I don't think such a thing exists. New issue munis are offered through a system that is conceptually similar, but not identical, to an IPO for stock or corporate bonds. It isn't exactly underwriting, but certain brokers participate in the offering of new issues. And you can enter an order for those new issues through one of those brokers. Like, for example, Charles Schwab. I'm the guy who pointed you to the agency bonds search function on schwab.com. On that same page, the drop down menu also has an option for municipals. And once you select that option, a link will appear next to the drop down menu that says "New Issue Calendar" And you can see a list of upcoming offerings. For each offering, there is a link to something called a POS, or Preliminary Official Statement (analogous to a prospectus). Near the right edge of the screen, there is a link to a "New Issue User's Guide" For some bonds you may have to call Schwab and place the order by phone. I have never placed an order for a new issue. I have no idea what the commissions are, or what the minimum order size is.
Browsing through some of the POS documents, it looks like most new issues are offered as bonds with a face value of $5,000. But I wouldn't be shocked if some brokers have a minimum order of $25K, or maybe higher.
Obviously you guys are really new to this. Going thru a broker is must, probabaly commission can't be avoided unless the fees are paid by the issuing muni gov. I personally use Fidelity for decades for bonds, it got almost everything except international issues, in which I go with IB. Here is the data provider for again, almost all domestic issues, not free. MuniPOINTS https://www.dpcdata.com/products/
First, thank you for your referral to Schwab for agency bonds. Based on your opinion I set up an account with Fidelity. I have a big T issue maturing in July and plan to break that up and purchase some agency issues. So it looks like I must work through an investment bank to purchase a Muni? I was hoping to buy directly from the actual municipality and avoid fees, or maybe get them at a discount. Are there any “back doors” to purchase munis and go around the brokers (and their commissions) or do they essentially have a monopoly? Profit is the difference between income and expense, in case you didn’t know that