For the past year, MuniNet Guide has been researching the types of investor relations content provided by issuers of state and municipal bonds. And while the majority of state issuers provide at least annual financial information, a select few serve as superb examples of municipal investor relations portals. We pay tribute to these websites in this month’s installment of Top Picks.
Today’s economic challenges, political landscape, and regulatory trends have all collectively contributed to an increased emphasis on accountability and transparency in the financial markets.
Transparency, a buzzword in today’s marketplace, only becomes reality when financial and other types of disclosure information are made easily accessible to investors.
In general, the municipal market has lagged behind its corporate counterpart when it comes to investor relations. But times are changing. Municipal investors are being increasingly treated like corporate bondholders, with broader access to financial reports, management commentary, as well as performance and accountability measures.
And the benefits are two-pronged: For starters, the investment community takes a positive view of municipal bond issuers that provide access to their financial and disclosure information, thereby leading to greater acceptance in the marketplace.
Additionally, communities that emphasize transparency and accountability provide a great service to taxpayers, who can use this information to gain a clearer understanding of their state or local government’s financial condition.
A municipal web site that stands out for having strong investor relations content goes beyond simply providing financial reports and official statements. Although complete, accurate, and up-to-date annual and interim financial reports provide the foundation for a Top Pick in this category, the information needs to be easy to find – and easy to understand. Data that illustrates performance, utilization, demographic and/or economic trends helps paint a more accurate picture of an issuer’s overall strength and creditworthiness.
While there is no correlation between the strength of a credit and the quality of the investor relations content provided on an issuer’s web site, the Internet has made it almost inexcusable not to provide this information. Municipal investors, analysts, and the general public have come to appreciate – if not, in many cases expect – an online, modern-day portal through which to access this content.
“We hope that highlighting these websites not only serves as a convenient resource for MuniNet visitors, but also encourages issuers of municipal bonds – across all sectors – to launch similar efforts to provide investors with convenient one-stop portals for bondholder information,” says Richard Ciccarone, MuniNet publisher.
In order to qualify as a Top Pick, the websites needed to contain all, or at least most, of the following elements:
- Timely, complete financial reports
- Primary and secondary market disclosure materials, including official statements
- Bond ratings
- Economic and/or demographic data
- Management discussion and analysis, explanation, or commentary
- Contact information
- Ease of navigation
With that in mind, the Top Picks for Spring 2010 are as follows:
1. California
2. Delaware
3. Florida
4. Massachusetts
California’s Public Finance website is truly exemplary, providing a snapshot view of current bond offerings, official statements, outstanding debt, and ratings history. Its detailed contact information even includes “Investor Relations Personnel” by title. And while the California Public Finance page is laudable on its own, it links both from and to other excellent sites relating to the state’s finances and debt.
“Feedback about the site has been excellent, with email messages and phone calls from investors thanking us for the wide variety of information available on the site,” according to Tom Dresslar, Director of Communications with the California State Treasurer’s Office.
Stepping back one level, the State Treasurer’s Office website prominently features a section promoting investment in California bonds, including a link to the Buy California Bonds website, along with budget highlights, bond finance news, and bond ratings.
“We hope that highlighting these websites not only serves as a convenient resource for MuniNet visitors, but also encourages issuers of municipal bonds – across all sectors – to launch similar efforts to provide investors with convenient one-stop portals for bondholder information”- Richard Ciccarone, MuniNet publisher.
The Buy California Bonds site does a great job of explaining the process of buying state bonds, and then allows investors to click on a link to see current offerings. The Frequently Asked Questions link is about as comprehensive as it gets, covering an array of questions that potential investors might have.
“With the implementation of the Buy California Bonds website, the response has been especially positive,” says Dresslar. “We have received emails and phone calls from various other issuing entities and their representatives wishing to implement a similar approach. In addition, the website has been copied outright by several other public issuers throughout the world. We consider this type of feedback to be the sincerest form of flattery.”
Delaware’s Investor Information portal is a well-kept secret, but hopefully that will change once word spreads … This is an excellent website that simply shines.
Laden with content ranging from the state’s bond calendar to comprehensive annual financial reports, monthly financial reports, and archived rating agency reports dating back to 2004, Delaware provides one of the most comprehensive investor relations sites we’ve seen to date.
Florida’s Division of Bond Finance website provides a centralized collection of links to investor-related information. The website has been in place since the late 1990s as part of an effort to provide disclosure to investors, says Dennis MacKee, of Florida’s State Board of Administration. The site’s Demographic Information, which contains data illustrating trends in the state’s income, population, and labor force, is a nice complement to the comprehensive financial and disclosure information provided on this website.
Massachusetts’ Investor Tools and Resources website, within the Department of Debt Management, contains a variety of helpful links for investors. With a stated purpose of ensuring “that investors have easy access to offering documents on Commonwealth of Massachusetts bonds and notes, as well as archived disclosure documents and other material,” the website provides links to financial reports, official statements, and more. The Department of Debt Management site does a great job of providing timely news and updates as they relate to Massachusetts bonds, as well as archived ratings reports and economic data.
Editor’s Note: MuniNetGuide.com has made an effort to identify and list state investor relations websites within the “Finance” tab on the state pages of our website. Visitors can also use the site’s search tool to identify these sites. We welcome your input; please use the Comments form to submit investor relations sites for state and municipal bond issuers.
NEW_SECTIONTop Picks: State Investor Relations WebsitesEND_SUPP_HDR
- official statements
- ongoing disclosure
- ratings information
- bond sales
- bond-related news
- detailed investor relations contact information
Delaware Investor Information:
- official statements
- ongoing disclosure
- ratings information
- bond sales
- investor relations contact information
Florida Division of Bond Finance:
- official statements
- ongoing disclosure
- bond sales
- investor relations contact information
Massachusetts Investor Tools and Resources:
- official statements
- ongoing disclosure
- ratings information
- bond sales
- bond-related news