US banks cut back muni exposure to lowest since financial crisis

[NEW YORK] US banks are holding the smallest share of debt sold by states and localities since the financial crisis despite attractive valuations and a heavy flow of new bond sales.

In total, banks hold nearly US$295 billion of securities and around US$190 billion in direct loans from municipalities, according to an analysis by Municipal Market Analytics of second quarter Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation data. That means municipal securities make up about 1.18 per cent of total bank assets, the lowest since the financial crisis.

Banks remain “highly diffident” buyers of municipals despite their interest in long, safe infrastructure investments, cheaper tax-exempt bonds and a very low default rate, MMA strategists led by Matt Fabian, a partner at the firm, wrote in a research note published on Monday (Aug 18).

Banks and insurance companies have scaled back municipal-bond purchases since US President Donald Trump lowered the corporate tax rate during his first term in 2017. Most state and local government debt is tax-exempt, meaning they are less valuable to institutions when levies are cut.

They may also be holding back because smaller borrowers are issuing shorter debt to meet strong demand from separately-managed accounts, as well as worries over the impact on municipal credits from Trump policies on federal funding, immigration and tariffs, Fabian said.

“Banks and insurance companies, the institutional dollars that really step in and take advantage of market dislocations, have stepped out of our market,” said Shannon Rinehart, co-head of municipal investments at Columbia Threadneedle. “Even this summer, when we have seen such attractive yields and ratios, 95 per cent plus in the long end, they are not stepping in.”

Long-dated municipal bonds are yielding more than 94 per cent of US Treasury debt. That ratio, a key measure of relative value, means that munis look cheap versus federal government bonds.

Investment-grade muni debt has posted flat performance since the start of 2025, underperforming the 5.08 per cent gain for corporate bonds and 4 per cent increase for US government debt, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Eric Kazatsky, a client portfolio manager at MacKay Municipal Managers, said that banks and insurance companies kept to the sidelines this year due to uncertainty around federal tax policy.

“Their absence from meaningful buying in some ways contributed to cheapening for longer munis and some underperformance,” he said. “With the OBBB tax uncertainty and much of the volatility it induced in the market put to the side, we are definitely seeing an uptick in inquiry from banks and insurance companies.” BLOOMBERG