Bond Insurance

History of Bond Insurance

Issuers that meet certain credit criteria can purchase municipal bond insurance policies from private companies. The insurance guarantees the payment of principal and interest on a bond issue if the issuer defaults. Bond ratings are based on the credit of the insurer rather than the underlying credit of the issuer. A municipal bond insurance policy is intended to result in significant interest cost savings, depending upon the issuer's underlying credit and market conditions at the time of the bond sale. Interest cost savings are attributable to the higher bond rating as well as enhanced liquidity for insured bonds.

Triple-A municipal bond insurance emerged in 1971.  From 1971 to 2007 the number of insured issues grew astronomically. In 1980, only 3% of bond issues were insured compared to approximately 60% in 2007. In 2008, there was an estimated $2.5 trillion of municipal bonds of which more than half were insured. With growing popularity of insurance, the number of insurers also increased. AMBAC, the first insurer, was latter joined by other triple-A rated insures.  In addition, insurance companies with claims paying ability lower than triple-A entered the market to provide opportunities for insuring bond issues that were too small, unusual or had credit conditions that did not meet AAA insurers' criteria.

In addition to insuring municipal bonds, many of the Municipal Bond Insurers insured collateralized debt obligations.  Beginning in 2007 insurers' credit ratings came under review due to subprime mortgage exposure. This exposure threatened the insurers claims paying ability and resulted in rating downgrades.  In 2007, there were seven insurers rated triple-A by the three major rating agencies. Today none of the insurers are triple-A rated.

In 2009 Assured Guaranty Corp. and Financial Security Assurance had the highest ratings of the bond insurers. On July 1, 2009, Assured Guaranty Corp completed an acquisition of Financial Security Assurance. (See ratings below.)

In July 2012,  Build America Mutual Assurance Company ("BAM") was licensed. BAM intends to insure only essential public purpose issues. BAM is rated "AA" by Standard & Poor's.

Historically, bond insurance is purchased through a one time payment of a premium at the time of the bond closing. (Depending on the issue BAM may have both upfront and annual premiums.) Not all issues qualify for insurance. Each insurer has its own credit criteria, although the categories reviewed are essentially the same as those used by the rating agencies (see Bond Ratings). The process of insuring a new issue begins with the issuer submitting documentation for review (such as the official statement, financial statements and bond documents). If the issue qualifies for insurance, the policy may be purchased by "direct purchase" or "elective bidding". In a direct purchase, the issuer purchases the insurance policy directly from an insurer. Elective bidding allows bidders to choose whether or not to insure an issue at the time the bonds are competitively sold. In an elective bid, each bond dealer submitting a bid assesses whether the acquisition of insurance will result in a better bid. If the winning bidder submits a bid with insurance, the bidder pays for the insurance policy.

Who Are The Bond Insurers

The following table sets forth the websites for the bond insurers that were triple-A rated in 2007 and their current bond ratings:

In addition to the foregoing insurers is Berkshire Hathaway Assurance. Formed in 2008, the company has
Aa1 stable rating from Moody's Investors Service and a AA+ stable rating from Standard & Poor's.  (The company has a minimum new issue size of $100 million and has not insured any issues since 2009.)

Assessing Feasibility

Role of WM Financial Strategies

For your municipal bond issue, WM Financial Strategies will explore the feasibility of obtaining a municipal bond insurance policy. WM Financial Strategies begins with an analysis of your credit condition, the issue structure and current market trends. If, the acquisition of insurance appears to be feasible, WM Financial Strategies applies for a municipal bond insurance policy from one or more of the insurers listed above that maintains a high credit rating. If the issue qualifies for insurance, a recommendation whether to buy insurance is made based on the analysis described above (see "Assessing Feasibility").

Rating Actions and the Great Recession

Since 2007, Moody's Investors Service, Standard & Poor's and Fitch have been reviewing bond insurers to determine their subprime exposure and whether their capital remains adequate to maintain their present ratings. Due to the loss of demand for bond insurance, insurers that do not have subprime exposure have also come under review.  The table below is a summary of credit rating actions relating to insurers that were AAA rated prior to December 2007.  (For a more detailed description of actions taken since October 2007 see Bond Insurance and the Great Recession).

More Information

Visit the Association of Financial Guaranty Insurers for additional information relating to municipal bond insurance.