IN TIMES OF CHAOS CHOOSE TO INNOVATE INVESTMENT DISCOVERIES Driving positive change with municipal bonds A story by Thomas Stoeckmann. This K-12 grade school of choice serving 1,064 students within the local At the intersection of a long school community was rated as “Exceeds hallway filled with the buzz of youthful activity, I stood as a silent Expectations” according to state standards. The vast majority of other observer of what I had witnessed local district and school choice options numerous times before. A young were a woeful 20 to 60 percentage points Jeffrey Weaver, CFA Senior Portfolio Manager, first-grade boy approached the behind our school’s state accountability Head of Municipal and principal, wrapping his arms around rating. Our investment was not in some Short Duration Fixed her legs and fighting back tears that suburban school. Instead, 92% of the Income, WFAM Global had noticeably been flowing for some school’s population is economically Fixed Income time that morning. disadvantaged, 99% of its students are minority, and 10% of its students live with Followed by another staff member, I disabilities. observed as two school leaders’ eyes met, silently communicating that Located near Milwaukee’s north side and this student’s morning was different. just 3.5 miles from where I was born, It wasn’t about the all-too-common mornings that began without food this school site visit was different from the dozens of others I had made. As the Terry Goode or the stressful experience of a bus principal and I wrapped up our meeting ride gone bad. There was something Senior Portfolio in her office, she revealed that the young Manager, WFAM Global more. The principal excused herself boy I had witnessed earlier in the hallway for a few moments from our tour Fixed Income—Municipal was mourning with his mother, who had together to usher the boy and a staff lost her boyfriend to gunshot wounds the member into the nearby counseling evening before. room for some solace. Two things resonated loud and clear Minutes later, as the children settled into their classrooms and that morning: the staff’s support for their student who was enduring the the hallways became quiet, my host returned and we continued our unimaginable, and the staff’s hope of a successful academic future for their Thomas conversation about the school’s community. What was my team’s role in Stoeckmann academic progress. It was apparent this story? Our investment gave us the Head of Municipal from the student work neatly opportunity to make a positive impact. Research, Municipal posted in the hallways that their Credit, WFAM Global methods were working. Witnessing For readers thinking about Fixed Income the students’ engagement and environment, social, and governance positive academic performance (ESG) in 2020 and beyond, there’s a confirmed a primary reason I takeaway here. had recommended the public charter school’s municipal bond to my colleagues on the Municipal Fixed Income team for portfolio 8 investment several years earlier.