Governmental entities are tasked with constructing, acquiring and maintaining capital assets and equipment, and essential purpose infrastructure. Knowing you’ll be able to fund your projects is exciting. Planning and issuing your financing can be daunting. Rely on Ehlers’ municipal advisory team to proactively guide you through the debt planning and issuance process to make your project a success.
Debt Planning & Management Services are provided by Ehlers & Associates.
Investment Services are provided by affiliate Ehlers Investment Partners.
Regardless of the method of sale, Ehlers’ advisors collaborate with you, legal counsel and other public finance professionals to determine the most advantageous financing options available for your project needs. We are highly-experienced in all types of municipal debt transactions, including:
Ehlers is and always has been a strong proponent of competitive bond sales as we believe they generally result in the lowest available interest costs. While we advise on hundreds of competitive bond sales each year, we also assist with dozens of negotiated and private placement transactions. Given today’s market and economic uncertainties, along with regulatory changes, representation by an independent municipal advisor in negotiated transactions is more important than ever as you seek to secure the most advantageous pricing, structure and terms.
We have cultivated strong working relationships with bond and disclosure counsel, underwriters, external auditors, paying agents, trustees, bond insurers, etc. who must work as a cohesive team in conducting a successful debt issuance. We work closely with all team members to coordinate service delivery, including reviewing transaction and disclosure documents. We also create and maintain a financing calendar that meets your needs and facilitates interaction among transaction participants, giving you time to focus on your day-to-day responsibilities.
One of Ehlers’ distinguishing strengths is our relationships with the major rating agencies. We know the mechanics and nuances of each firm’s methodology. Advising on hundreds of rated public offerings each year, we interact frequently with the rating agencies and their analysts. We understand the “hot-button” issues and can readily anticipate the points of discussion that will be addressed during the rating call and rating committee review. We also understand and can help you mitigate how a metric may lead to notching factors if not properly explained.
A well-designed bond issue takes into consideration the issuer’s goals and needs as well as the requirements of underwriters and municipal market investors.
Advising on more than 300 public offerings annually, Ehlers is in near-daily contact with all major underwriting desks in the country, giving us keen insight into both dealer and investor demand and any shifts across the municipal market. In addition, we use a variety of market-monitoring tools (Bloomberg, EMMA, our network of underwriting contacts) to gather the most current, complete and relevant pricing information. Our proven track record results in more aggressive, on-market pricing for our clients.
We also leverage pricing and transactional insights on private market dealings from our roughly 40 advisors to knowledgeably evaluate all options for our clients.
Annually, we prepare hundreds of Official Statements and secondary market disclosures for our clients and fully coordinate with other professionals involved in the issuance process, including bond counsel, the rating agency(ies) and auditors. Our depth of experience ensures your Official Statement is high quality and attracts bids for a competitive offering.
For each bond sale, Ehlers conducts a comprehensive quality control process involving municipal advisors, disclosure coordinators and financial analysts. We hold a Quality Control (QC) meeting to review and analyze the bond structure, terms, market rate estimates, sale parameters and federal and state regulatory and legal considerations.
Our team of full-time bond sale coordinators conducts a comprehensive, hands-on sale process for every issue. We are highly experienced with the level of communication market participants require to be attracted to your debt offering. We serve as your lead agent in all communication and coordination with underwriters and potential investors. We post the issue’s Official Statement on our website and disseminate it with other essential information about the issue to regional and national underwriters.
Ehlers’ goal is to make bond closing as “invisible” as possible for our clients. We coordinate the closing with bond counsel, Depository Trust Company (DTC) and the purchaser (underwriter) to minimize your workload. Our Investment Services team assists with preparation of draw schedules and the creation of investment options as requested.
As an ongoing service, we help manage clients’ existing debt and plan for future financing needs. We also offer complete post issuance services to help you manage existing debt, seek reliable interest income through bond proceeds investment, and comply with regulations for continuing disclosures and arbitrage reporting.
