Municipal bonds are a $3.7 trillion market, and lately, they’re attracting record investment dollars. But what’s the impact?
HIP Investor offers impact scoring for muni-bonds and other fixed-income investments, while Activest is trying to build a funding stream for promoting policy reforms.
They’re needed: In many cities, muni bonds are underpinned by jail bonds and fines that disproportionately affect blacks and Latinos. Some towns in the St. Louis metro area earn as much as 40 percent of their income from fines and fees.
Paul Herman from HIP and Mary Taft-McPhee and Rodrigo Davies from Neighborly joined a recent Transform Finance webinar to explore muni bonds and social justice.
UPDATE: Visit Transform Finance to view muni-bond webinars:
- Part one: Municipal Bonds and Racial Justice
- Part two: Muni Bonds and Social Justice Part II: What Can Investors Do?
Photo credit: Town of Richland
