
The Shield – Review of Rating Agency Outlooks on the Higher Education Sector in 2022
In a welcome change from recent years, this year all three rating agencies have assigned a “Stable” outlook to the higher education sector for the first time since 2017. Moody’s maintained its Stable view from last year, and S&P and Fitch improved their outlooks on the sector from “Negative” to

Final IRS LIBOR Transition Guidance
The Internal Revenue Service published its final regulations on January 4th for the LIBOR transition. There were several changes from their proposed regulations. Of note, these changes include the new distinction between covered and non-covered modifications. Covered modifications of contracts will not result in a potential change in the

The Shield – January 2022 Municipal Market Update
2021 saw a continued demand for – and high issuance of – municipal bonds following record performance in 2020, though higher education issuance was down compared to the prior year, following a decline in taxable issuances. Both absolute yields and credit spreads retracted in the spring to the lows seen

Company painting event 2022
As we continue to work remote, we still value coming together as a team to have some fun. Last week we joined our affiliate company, HedgeStar, and took a virtual painting class hosted by Paint the Town. Check out some of our team members’ masterpieces! Media Contact: Megan

Blue Rose’s Megan Roth promoted to Marketing Manager
Megan Roth is promoted to Marketing Manager at Blue Rose Capital Advisors and HedgeStar. Ms. Roth joined Blue Rose in June 2019 as a Marketing Generalist. Through this role she assisted our marketing department with executing various initiatives to grow our external communication, along with overall day-to-day marketing activity.

Blue Rose’s Georgina Walleshauser, promoted to Assistant Vice President
Blue Rose Capital Advisors announces that Georgina Walleshauser is promoted to Assistant Vice President. Ms. Walleshauser joined Blue Rose in 2017 as an Analyst. She was responsible for providing analytical, research, and transactional support to senior managers serving higher education, non-profit, and government clients with debt advisory, derivatives advisory, and

Johan Rosenberg Awarded the CRE® Designation from The Counselors of Real Estate®
Minneapolis, MN, January 4, 2022 – Johan Rosenberg, CRE, Chairman and General Partner of Tril 1 LP of Blue Rose Capital Advisors has been awarded the CRE® (Counselor of Real Estate) designation by The Counselors of Real Estate®, an international group of high-profile real estate professionals who provide expert advisory

Project Delayed? Revisit Your Investments
Some issuers recently have started rethinking a choice they made a year ago to invest their bond proceeds for construction funds into money market mutual funds. The reason for this is twofold: both the changes we’re seeing in interest rates on one hand, and construction costs and timelines on the

Debt Service Coverage and Implications for Low Density Single Person Occupancy
Administrators across the country designed low density housing plans for the safe reopening of on-campus housing during the fall of 2021, including the numerous Public-Private Partnership (P3) housing projects in operation around the nation’s higher education institutions. But many, if not most, institutions came to understand that this just simply

Basis Points – SLGS Window Remains Closed with New Debt Ceiling
The U.S. government’s debt limit was raised to $28.9 trillion on October 15, 2021 to resolve a pending debt ceiling crisis. This amount was intentionally set at a level estimated to last only up to two months. In recent years, the government has previously chosen to suspend the debt ceiling

The Shield – Endowment Growth Trend and Considerations
In the last year and a half, the strong stock market performance has been a boon for higher education institutions despite the turbulent operating environment. For example, the S&P 500 is up 35% from its pre-pandemic high. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec

Shrinkflation: An Uncertain Element of Inflation?
Earlier this year we wrote an article about whether inflationary pressures were real. As articulated in June, we identified the popular economic narrative indicated a strong economic recovery. However, we also surmised that the pandemic recovery could be leading to tremendous distortions and disturbances in economic statistics, inflation included. Perhaps

Basis Points – When Will The SLGS Window Reopen?
With the U.S. fiscal year ending on September 30th when government funding is set to expire, there has been increased pressure to extend funding. On Tuesday, the House of Representatives passed a bill in hopes to prevent a government shutdown resulting from this upcoming deadline and allow for government funding

Giving Back and Giving Thanks…An Adapted (or New?) Blue Rose Tradition
Traditions are a wonderful way to keep a sense of normalcy when, in such instances as calendar years 2020 and 2021, the realities presented to us may be anything but normal. The continuation of a global health pandemic, civil unrest, and political discord are just three ways that continue to

John Elliott joins Blue Rose Capital Advisors as Associate
Blue Rose Capital Advisors announces that John Elliott has joined the firm. He will work in the newly established California office as an Associate. As an Associate, Mr. Elliott is responsible for providing analytical and research support to the lead advisory team for Blue Rose’s P3 advisory and consulting

Basis Points – Future Opportunities with Cash Funded Escrows
The recent closure of the SLGS window combined with the extremely low interest rates on the front end of the yield curve has created a situation for small issuers in which it may be more cost effective, after fees, to cash fund an escrow rather than purchase a portfolio of

Blue Rose’s Brandon Lippold, promoted to Assistant Vice President
Mr. Lippold joined Blue Rose as a Quantitative Analyst, providing modeling, analytics, market data, and research in support of the delivery of capital planning, debt and derivatives advisory, and reinvestment services to our clients in 2018. He then took on the role of Associate, where he utilized his experience as

Moody’s Releases Revised Higher Education Rating Methodology; More Transparency Yet to Come
Last week on August 4th, Moody’s released the final version of their revised rating methodology for the higher education sector. This new methodology applies to all higher education institutions globally, including both public and private colleges and universities, technical schools, and community colleges. The finalized revised methodology is consistent

The Shield – Pending SLGS Window Closure
The debt ceiling for the United States is currently suspended until July 31 and at that time, it will be set to the amount of debt on that day. Once that new limit is set, by design, the Treasury department will be legally prohibited from incurring any additional debt. Today,

Ben Pietrek joins Blue Rose Capital Advisors as Analyst
Blue Rose Capital Advisors announces that Benjamin Pietrek has joined the Minneapolis office as an Analyst. Mr. Pietrek will be working on the analyst team reporting to Max Wilkinson, Assistant Vice President. In his role he will be responsible for providing analytical, research, and transactional support to the lead

Special News Alert – Pending SLGS Window Closure
The debt ceiling for the United States is currently suspended until July 31 and at that time, it will be set to the amount of debt on that day. Once that new limit is set, by design, the Treasury department will be legally prohibited from incurring any additional debt. Today,

Basis Points – Debt Service Reserve Funds in the Current Market
In the current market, debt service reserve funds create negative arbitrage for issuers due to the difference in available investment rates for the reserve fund and the borrowing rates of the bond transaction. On the other hand, a debt service reserve fund may benefit the issuer by creating more investor

The Shield – Inflationary Pressures – Are They Real?
Today’s popular economic narrative says to expect a strong recovery, with rising inflation at the same time. However, if we go into a recovery and inflation takes off, it is likely we would have a truncated recovery. With a weaker dollar comes a bigger trade deficit, and then inflation would

Basis Points – Refunding Escrows
Do you want to learn more about refunding escrows, especially with a SLGS window closure expected this summer? Blue Rose has experience in structuring, restructuring, and procuring open market escrow portfolios. Talk to a Blue Rose advisor today! https://youtu.be/SebynmnFCuo Contact Blue Rose: (952) 746-6050 [email protected] Media Contacts: Megan

Basis Points – SLGS Window Reclosing?
As we’ve written previously, the debt ceiling for the United States is currently suspended until July 31, 2021, and at that time, it will be set to the amount of debt on that day. Once that new limit is set, by design, the Treasury department will be legally prohibited from

Market Update: SLGS vs. OMS in the Current Market

Understanding Your Long-Term Credit Rating

The Key Role of Municipal Advisors in Pricing Bonds

The Shield – Blue Rose: A Trusted Advisor in an Uncertain 2025

Understanding Green Bonds

Blue Rose’s John Elliott Promoted to Vice President

Final Fed Rate Cut and Basis Points Market Update for 2024

Enrollment Trends for 2024 and Beyond

P3 Advisory Services – Blue Rose’s Approach to Public-Private Partnerships
