The U.S. municipal bond market hit $3.8 trillion at year-end 2016, according to the Federal Reserve. Of that, $1.6 trillion was held by retail investors attracted to the tax advantages wielded by these securities, including investors’ exemption from federal income tax and, in some cases, state income tax. The appeal of muni bonds might diminish somewhat depending on how high interest rates go, as well as how low tax rates go as part of President Trump’s proposed tax plan.

Nonetheless, muni bonds will continue to play a role in the portfolios of many investors. A new trading system rolled out last month by 280 CapMarkets targets independent financial advisors and aims to help them get the best price on their muni bond purchases.

Based in San Francisco, 280 CapMarkets says it is staffed by muni bond traders and specialists who know the market and how to ferret out the best prices in this sprawling acreage of the investing landscape.

“Price discovery is difficult for municipal bonds because they aren’t as liquid as corporates or Treasurys,” says Jason Ware, manager of the muni-bond trading desk at 280 CapMarkets, who previously ran retail bond trading desks at JP Morgan and Robert Baird. “We created a capital markets desk to be granularly involved in the market and understand what price levels are good and what levels aren’t in order to solve a problem for independent advisors.”

Independent advisors can access munis through their custodian’s platform or other platforms such as at BondDesk Group (which was bought by Tradeweb Markets in 2013). Ware says advisors who access munis through these sites are accessing only one exchange.

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