Thomson Reuters’ Municipal Market Data has revised the criteria for its generic insured yield curves to include bonds guaranteed by Build America Mutual, reflecting the increasing institutional demand for BAM-insured bonds and providing municipal market participants with a more complete way to gauge the relative value of insured and uninsured municipal bonds.
“The MMD insured yield curve is an important, independent tool issuers, investors, and advisors use to monitor market conditions and estimate the value insurance adds to their transaction,” said Rick Holzinger, BAM’s Head of Investor Relations. “BAM guaranteed approximately 45% of all insured municipal bond transactions over the last year, so a large segment of the market will benefit from having access to a reference point that is relevant to their sales.”

Build America Mutual, the first mutual municipal bond insurer, today announced that John White, Chairman of the PFM Group, has been elected to join its Board of Directors. As CEO of PFM for more than 30 years, Mr. White played a key role in building its municipal advisory division, Public Financial Management, into the largest independent financial advisor to municipal bond issuers in the United States.

Like you, we at BAM are ready to hit the ground running, supporting municipal issuers when they access the market to finance essential public infrastructure. More than 2,200 issuers have already become members of BAM, and we’ve now insured almost $35 billion, after another record year in 2016 ($11.4 billion par insured, including more than $950 million in the secondary market). In a challenging market,
our insured bonds are a valuable source of liquidity: More than $500 million of BAM insured bonds trade hands in the secondary market in a typical week, and insurance was used more frequently on AA-category credits when interest rates rose during the fourth quarter.

Build America Mutual today filed its Third Quarter 2016 Statutory Financial Statements and published its Operating Supplement, reporting a 9.6% increase in gross par outstanding to $30.5 billion. Claims-paying resources rose $11.8 million to $629 million, the largest quarterly increase since the company was founded in 2012.
Build America Mutual’s Statutory Financial Statements and Operating Supplements are available in the Financial Information section of BAM’s web site at: https://live-bambondscom.pantheonsite.io/financialinformation. The financial statements have also been filed with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners and the 50 state insurance regulators that license BAM.
For more information, contact Michael Stanton, Head of Corporate Strategy and Communications, at mstanton@buildamerica.com or 212- 235-2575, or Richard Holzinger, Head of Investor Relations, at rholzinger@buildamerica.com or 212-235-2518

Build America Mutual (BAM), the first mutual insurer of US municipal bonds, today announced that Richard Ravitch has resigned from its board of directors, effective immediately, to devote more time to his growing public service responsibilities.
“Last week, the Governor of Puerto Rico asked me to be his representative on the Federal Oversight Board assisting the Commonwealth in managing its financial crisis. In order to avoid any appearance of conflict as I take this difficult and complex task, I am resigning from the Board of Directors of BAM, effective immediately,” Mr. Ravitch said. “It has been an honor to work with the men and women of BAM, and I wish them the best of luck in the future.”
Mr. Ravitch is an expert in municipal finance and executed successful fiscal turnarounds as the Chairman of the New York State Urban Development Corp. and, later, as Chairman of the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority. More recently, he served as Lieutenant Governor of New York and co-chaired the State Fiscal Crisis Task Force with former Federal Reserve Board Chairman Paul Volcker. Mr. Ravitch has been a member of BAM’s Board since the company’s launch in July 2012, representing the issuer-members who utilize BAM insurance to save money on their debt-service costs.
“Dick’s insight into the competing political and fiscal pressures facing public officials in today’s economic and fiscal landscape is unmatched, and he’s been generous in sharing that perspective as we crafted the conservative underwriting standards and risk management structures that are the foundation of BAM’s insured portfolio,” said BAM Chairman Robert Cochran.
“Dick Ravitch has been a trusted advisor as BAM grew from a startup into the most active guarantor of new-issue municipal bonds in the country,” said BAM Chief Executive Officer Seán McCarthy. “We have appreciated and benefitted from his guidance, counsel, and perspective on the municipal bond market.”
BAM’s board of directors will select Mr. Ravitch’s successor.
About Build America Mutual
Build America Mutual improves municipal bond liquidity and market access for issuers by providing municipal bondholders with an unconditional, irrevocable guaranty that principal and interest will be paid on schedule. As a mutual insurer, BAM is operated for the benefit of its members – which are, exclusively, the U.S. cities, counties, towns, and other public-sector entities that use BAM’s financial guaranty to lower their cost of borrowing. BAM is sponsored by the National League of Cities. Through September 1, BAM has written more than 3,700 policies, insuring more than $31 billion of municipal securities. Learn more at: https://live-bambondscom.pantheonsite.io/about-bam/
For more information, please contact:
Michael Stanton, Head of Corporate Strategy and Communications 212-235-2575; mstanton@buildamerica.com

Build America Mutual on August 10 filed its Second Quarter 2016 Statutory Financial Statements and published its Operating Supplement, reporting an 13% increase in gross par outstanding to $27.8 billion. Claims-paying resources rose $10.1 million to $617.2 million, the largest quarterly increase since the company was founded in 2012.
Build America Mutual’s Statutory Financial Statements and Operating Supplements are available in the Financial Information section of BAM’s web site at: https://live-bambondscom.pantheonsite.io/financialinformation. The financial statements have also been filed with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners and the 50 state insurance regulators that license BAM.
For more information, contact Michael Stanton, Head of Corporate Strategy and Communications, at mstanton@buildamerica.com or 212- 235-2575.

S&P Global Ratings affirmed Build America Mutual’s AA rating with a stable outlook, citing the insurer’s “extremely strong” capital, “prudent” underwriting strategy, and a “well-developed strategic plan [that] ensures liquidity of BAM’s insured paper.”
In assigning the rating, S&P recognized BAM’s unique mutual structure, which supports BAM’s long-term financial stability because “BAM’s owners are focused on a stable, low-cost source of financial guarantee support rather than a high return on investment.” BAM focuses on insuring U.S. municipal bonds for essential public purposes and its members are the issuers who use its guaranty to save money on their bond sales. S&P noted that BAM does not have any exposure to issuers in Puerto Rico.
In addition, S&P noted that “BAM provides market participants significant transparency in its insured portfolio through its website,” where BAM publishes a Credit Profile for every bond it insures, and updates them annually.
“BAM’s mission is to serve as an industry utility that provides strong, durable ratings and enhanced transparency for small- and medium-sized issuers and the investors in their bonds,” said BAM Chief Executive Officer Seán W. McCarthy. “The structural and operating strengths S&P recognized are what allow us to fulfill that mission and keep expanding our insured portfolio and claims-paying resources.”
S&P has rated BAM AA, the highest rating it currently assigns to any active financial guarantor, since it was launched in 2012. Since then, BAM has insured more than $30 billion of municipal bonds in more than 3,500 primary- and secondary market transactions.
About Build America Mutual
Build America Mutual improves municipal bond liquidity and market access for issuers by providing municipal bondholders with an unconditional, irrevocable guaranty that principal and interest will be paid on schedule. As a mutual insurer, BAM is operated for the benefit of its members – which are, exclusively, the U.S. cities, counties, towns, and other public-sector entities that use BAM’s financial guaranty to lower their cost of borrowing. BAM is sponsored by the National League of Cities. Learn more at: https://live-bambondscom.pantheonsite.io/about-bam/
For more information, please contact:
Michael Stanton, Head of Corporate Strategy and Communications 212-235-2575; mstanton@buildamerica.com

Republican elected officials from across the nation explained how infrastructure investments have fueled growth in their local economies, and said those successes support the case for more federal resources for infrastructure, as well as the preservation of tax- exempt municipal bonds in any tax-reform legislation. Their comments came during a policy briefing at the Republican National Convention sponsored by the National League of Cities (NLC), the nation’s largest and most representative organization for city officials, and Build America Mutual (BAM), the first mutual insurer of municipal bonds.

Build America Mutual, the first mutual insurer of US municipal bonds, is now posting indicative quotes for secondary market insurance on more than 10,000 CUSIPs on the Bloomberg Professional Service. All of the bonds listed have been underwritten by BAM’s public finance group and pre-approved by the insurer’s credit committee.
“Secondary market insurance is becoming a more important tool for institutional investors and regional dealers that want to enhance the credit quality and liquidity of their holdings and offerings,” said Scott Richbourg, BAM’s Head of Public Finance. “Bloomberg is a part of their workday, and having our prices there helps make the process of wrapping a bond with insurance as seamless as possible.”
Bloomberg Terminal users who select the ALLQ page for a bond that is eligible for BAM insurance will see the price quote next to the new “BAMZ” ticker symbol. They can then call BAM’s secondary market desk at 212-235-2550 to execute the transaction. BAM’s secondary quotes are also available on MuniBrokers.com and the Lumesis DIVERAdvisor platform, and BAM insurance is available for live execution via TMC Bonds.
About Build America Mutual
Build America Mutual improves municipal bond liquidity and market access for issuers by providing municipal bondholders with an unconditional, irrevocable guaranty that principal and interest will be paid on schedule. As a mutual insurer, BAM is operated for the benefit of its members – which are, exclusively, the U.S. cities, counties, towns, and other public-sector entities that use BAM’s financial guaranty to lower their cost of borrowing. BAM is sponsored by the National League of Cities. Through March 1, BAM has written more than 2,400 policies, insuring more than $24 billion of municipal securities. Learn more at: https://live-bambondscom.pantheonsite.io/mission/
For more information, please contact:
Michael Stanton, Head of Corporate Strategy and Communications 212-235-2575; mstanton@buildamerica.com

Build America Mutual today reported its claims-paying resources grew to a new high of $601.4 million at the end of 2015. Total par outstanding reached $22.5 billion, an 82% increase from year-end 2014.
Build America Mutual’s Statutory Financial Statements and Operating Supplements are available in the Financial Information section of BAM’s web site at: https://live-bambondscom.pantheonsite.io/financialinformation. The financial statements have also been filed with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners and the 50 state insurance regulators that license BAM.
Since its launch in 2012, BAM has provided insurance for $24.3 billion of municipal bonds in 2,860 transactions for more than 1,700 municipal bond issuers, who are also the members of the mutual company.
For more information, contact Michael Stanton, Head of Corporate Strategy and Communications, at mstanton@buildamerica.com or 212-235-2575.

Build America Mutual, the first mutual insurer of US municipal bonds, and MuniBrokers LLC, an online service aggregating bond offerings and bid-wanted lists from nine of the nation’s largest interdealer bond brokerage firms, today announced that BAM will list indicative secondary-market insurance premium quotes on the MuniBrokers site.
“Bringing additional tools and information to users on our website is a continuing priority here at MuniBrokers,” said Jay Caldas, President of MuniBrokers, LLC. “We’ve been linked to BAM Credit Profiles for all BAM-insured inventory since last year, and this update adds information about the availability and cost of adding a BAM guaranty to users’ holdings or offerings, the obvious next step as the utilization of secondary market insurance to improve bonds’ ratings and liquidity becomes more common.”
Inventory that has been pre-approved for insurance by BAM’s credit committee will be flagged on the site with a quote for the insurance, expressed in terms of dollars per bond, and the corresponding all-in yield calculated by MuniBrokers. Users will call BAM’s Capital Markets desk to confirm terms and execute the insurance transaction. BAM insured $611 million of bonds in the secondary market in 2015, up 30% from 2014.
“Adding BAM’s quotes to the MuniBrokers platform will streamline price discovery for traders who are already utilizing secondary market wraps as part of their strategies, and help others identify and evaluate situations where insurance adds value,” said Scott Richbourg, BAM’s Head of Public Finance.
BAM Credit Profiles (formerly known as Obligor Disclosure Briefs) will continue to be available for all BAM-insured bonds listed on the site. Municipal bond investors, traders, and sales professionals use BAM Credit Profiles to make their mandatory reviews of municipal credit quality faster and more efficient, while bond issuers – the public-sector entities that are BAM’s members – benefit from increased transparency that can improve the liquidity of their insured and uninsured bonds. BAM publishes a Credit Profile for every issuer it insures, and updates them annually. To date, BAM has published more than 2,500 Credit Profiles.
About Build America Mutual
Build America Mutual improves municipal bond liquidity and market access for issuers by providing municipal bondholders with an unconditional, irrevocable guaranty that principal and interest will be paid on schedule. As a mutual insurer, BAM is operated for the benefit of its members – which are, exclusively, the U.S. cities, counties, towns, and other public-sector entities that use BAM’s financial guaranty to lower their cost of borrowing. BAM is sponsored by the National League of Cities.
Through February 1, BAM has written more than 2,400 policies, insuring more than $24 billion of municipal securities. Learn more at: https://live-bambondscom.pantheonsite.io/about-bam/
About MuniBrokers.com
MuniBrokers, LLC provides software to interdealer brokers and a subscription web based trading system for their clients through MuniBrokers.com.
Their connectivity, customer distribution network and intuitive systems enable MuniBrokers to offer a unique opportunity for market participants to enhance their business.
MuniBrokers supports transactions in Municipal, Corporate, Agency and US Treasury securities.
For more information, please contact:
Michael Stanton, Head of Corporate Strategy and Communications, Build America Mutual 212-235-2575; mstanton@buildamerica.com

Build America Mutual, the first mutual insurer of US municipal bonds, today announced that Scott Sollers will join the firm to lead its West Region Public Finance group. He will be responsible for managing BAM’s West Coast- based underwriters and helping to set strategic direction for the company.
“Scott has a deep knowledge of the unique infrastructure financing needs of issuers in California and throughout the West,” said Build America Mutual Chief Executive Officer Seán W. McCarthy. “Having his skills, knowledge, and sterling reputation on our team will make us even better-positioned to meet the needs of our issuer members.”
Sollers is a veteran municipal bond investment banker and industry leader who has helped raise billions of dollars for infrastructure investment throughout California and the West. He joins BAM from Stifel, where he was a managing director, and was previously Chairman of Stone & Youngberg, which was the largest California-based underwriter of municipal bonds when it was acquired by Stifel in 2011. Sollers is also a former Chairman of the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board.
“I have known the BAM management team for decades and have enormous respect for their talent and integrity. I believe in the BAM business model because it aligns the interests of municipal issuers and bond investors behind a shared goal of building long-term financial strength,” Mr. Sollers said. “I am very excited to join BAM and continue to work with my colleagues in the industry.”
Operating from offices in San Francisco and Los Angeles, the West Region group covers 18 states and generated more than a third of BAM’s primary market par insured in 2015.
About Build America Mutual
Build America Mutual improves municipal bond liquidity and market access for issuers by providing municipal bondholders with an unconditional, irrevocable guaranty that principal and interest will be paid on schedule. As a mutual insurer, BAM is operated for the benefit of its members – which are, exclusively, the U.S. cities, counties, towns, and other public-sector entities that use BAM’s financial guaranty to lower their cost of borrowing. BAM is sponsored by the National League of Cities. Through March 1, BAM has written more than 2,400 policies, insuring more than $24 billion of municipal securities. Learn more at: https://live-bambondscom.pantheonsite.io/about-bam/
For more information, please contact:
Michael Stanton, Head of Corporate Strategy and Communications 212-235-2575; mstanton@buildamerica.com