Important Resources for Municipal Bond Investors
Raymond James believes that a sound understanding of financial products and services – including their structures and features – is critical for making informed investment decisions.
Below you’ll find links to informational resources that have been developed by financial industry regulatory organizations for the purpose of helping investors become more familiar with municipal bonds. We encourage you to view these helpful resources and to contact your financial advisor if you have any questions or would like to learn more about investing in municipal bonds.
‘What to Expect from Your Broker’ New videos designed to inform municipal bond investors are now available from the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board(MSRB).
Included in the series are the following topics:
- Appropriate Recommendations
- Fair Prices
- Information about Features and Risks
- Find these resources on the MSRB website, in the Investor Toolkit.
The Securities and Exchange Commission has issued an Investor Bulletin designed to help buyers of municipal bonds better understand bonds' credit risks. The bulletin also provides lists of resources where investors can find more information about muni bonds.
Seven Questions to Ask when Investing in Municipal Bonds | This fact sheet, created by the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB), provides potential investors in municipal bonds with a starting point for discussions with their financial professionals about investing in municipal securities.
Muni Bond Checklist | Use this checklist, created by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), to help avoid some of the most common pitfalls of municipal bond investing.
Introduction to EMMA | This video, created by the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB), introduces investors to the Electronic Municipal Market Access (EMMA) system, a centralized online database operated by MSRB that provides free public access to real time trade data, disclosure and other information about municipal bonds. In addition, the MSRB recently introduced MyEMMA, which among several things allows you to create and manage custom alerts to stay up to date with changes to security information. For more information, read the MyEMMA fact sheet.
To learn more about investing in municipal bonds go to the SIFMA education website.
The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB) provides an annual Fact Book that analyzes trading data and statistics for the municipal bond market. The Fact Book includes analysis on nearly every trade reported to the MSRB by municipal securities dealers in the last five years and provides key municipal market statistics unavailable elsewhere.
To learn more about the risks and rewards of investing in fixed income, please access the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association’s “Learn More” section of investinginbonds.com, finra.org, and the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s (MSRB) Electronic Municipal Market Access System (EMMA) “Education Center” section of emma.msrb.org.
MSRB Rule G-10 Investor and Municipal Advisory Client Education and Protection Disclosure
Raymond James & Associates, Inc., and Raymond James Financial Services, Inc., are registered with and subject to the rules and regulations of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB). Both the SEC and the MSRB publish websites containing information and resources designed to educate investors. In addition to educational materials about the municipal securities market and municipal securities market data, the MSRB website includes an investor brochure describing protections that may be provided by MSRB rules, including how to file a complaint with the appropriate regulatory authority. For more information, visit www.sec.gov and www.msrb.org. For additional background information on any firm or representative registered with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), please contact FINRA at 800.289.9999 or www.finra.org and request the public disclosure program brochure.