Top 5 Municipal Market Insights for 2026

About MacKay Municipal Managers™

MacKay Municipal Managers™ is a recognized leader in active municipal bond investing and is entrusted with $XX billion in assets under management, as of December 31, 2025. The team manages a suite of highly rated municipal bond solutions available in multiple vehicles. MacKay Municipal Managers™ is a fundamental relative-value bond manager that combines a top-down approach with bottom-up, credit research. Our investment philosophy is centered on the belief that strong long-term performance can be achieved with a relative value, research driven approach in a highly fragmented, inefficient municipal bond market.

About MacKay Shields LLC

MacKay Shields LLC (together with its subsidiaries, "MacKay")**, a New York Life Investment Management company, is a global asset management firm with $158B billion in assets under management*** as of September 30, 2025. MacKay manages fixed income strategies for high-net worth individuals and institutional clients through separately managed accounts and collective investment vehicles including private funds, collective investment trusts, UCITS, ETFs, closed end funds and mutual funds. MacKay provides investors with specialty fixed income expertise across global fixed income markets including municipal bonds, high yield bonds, investment grade bonds, structured credit, and emerging markets debt. The MacKay Shields client experience provides investors direct access to senior investment professionals. For more information, please visit www.mackayshields.com or follow us on Twitter or LinkedIn.

** MacKay Shields is a wholly owned subsidiary of New York Life Investments Holdings LLC, which is wholly owned by New York Life Insurance Company. "New York Life Investment Management" is both a service mark, and the common trade name of certain investment advisers affiliated with New York Life Insurance Company.

*** Assets under management (AUM) as of December 31, 2025 represents assets managed by MacKay Shields LLC and its subsidiaries but excludes certain accounts and other assets over which MacKay Shields continues to exercise discretionary authority to liquidate but which are no longer actively managed.

About Risk

Municipal Bond risks include the ability of the issuer to repay the obligation, the relative lack of information about certain issuers, and the possibility of future tax and legislative changes, which could affect the market for and value of municipal securities. Bonds face interest-rate and credit risk. When interest rates rise, bond values can decrease, and there's a risk that the issuer may not pay interest or principal on time.

High-yield or “junk bonds” are speculative due to their higher risk of loss compared to higher-quality securities. Municipal bonds issued by or on behalf of states or municipalities may experience increased volatility as a result of adverse fiscal, economic, or political developments affecting those issuers.