280 CapMarkets Launches Muni Bond Trading and Pricing Platform for Advisors

In the current muni market, markups and markdowns of a bond's price can range between 1% and 5%, growing larger each time the bond changes hands, but they're not disclosed. They are hidden within the price an advisor pays when buying a bond or receives when selling one.

The new service from 280 CapMarkets will deliver one price to advisors that can be done as a commission or fee-based trade. It aims to provide advisors access to the whole municipal bond market — the bonds that in a typical Wall Street bank are available from three separate divisions: capital markets, institutional sales and trading and wealth management — and the expertise to navigate that market,  says Rudd.  Independent advisors working outside that arena as well as fee-based advisors working within it currently cannot access bonds from all those sources, says Rudd.

"Our value proposition is to provide advisors access to the whole market, not a fragmented piece, where the whole street is in competition for every trade," says Ahluwalia. "We check every available exchange when the order comes in, on all three desks, in a technology offering in one place, in the cloud and easy to access … We put our best trade ideas [and] only get paid if they trade with us."

The new service is currently a pilot in alpha testing with a number of firms, and Ahluwalia and Rudd expect to launch it this fall. In the meantime, advisors interested in the service can visit the 280 CapMarkets website and the link to bondnav.com (short for bond navigator). The firm's goal is to be included in the platforms of multiple custodians serving advisors. It has already engaged TD Ameritrade, Schwab, Fidelity and Morgan Stanley for that, and Pershing is its own clearing and custodian bank, says Ahluwalia.

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