Sit Invest's Doty on muni-bond discounts and how they will be trimmed

Bryce Doty, senior portfolio manager at Sit Investment Associates, says that muni-bond closed-end funds using leverage -- where the cost of their borrowings are effectively wiping out returns given current conditions -- are more interested in keeping fees high than making money for shareholders, which is one reason why his firm has become a more activist shareholder. With the average muni-bond discount at roughly 13.5 percent -- more than three times its historic norms -- Doty says it should be easy for shareholders to narrow the discounts and turn profits, but it will require the Federal Reserve cutting rates and/or fund managers selling losers and reducing the negative carry of their leveraged positions.