Muni and corporate bonds trading activity has been reaching record levels through the first half of 2025 at the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE). This certainly speaks to the attractiveness of both, which offer yield and strong fundamentals in the current market landscape.
According to data from ICE, corporate bonds hit a national volume of $120 billion, while muni bonds totaled $109 billion. The rise represented an increase of 20% and 35%, respectively, from the previous year.
“We’re pleased to see the strong activity in the first half of the year, which marks the fourth consecutive year of volume increases in our corporate and municipal bond markets,” said Peter Borstelmann, president of ICE Bonds. ICE has been expanding its trading platforms, while building out its institutional and wealth management network. That’s a potential window into the activity of institutional and accredited investors regarding muni and corporate bonds.
Fixed income investors looking to diversify their portfolios that mainly hold Treasuries may want to consider either munis, corporates, or both. Active funds have been garnering a lot of attention this year. Vanguard has a pair of ETFs worth looking at for those who want simple, core exposure to either munis or corporates in a cost-effective investment vehicle.
etfdb.com
by Ben Hernandez
Aug 26, 2025