High-Yield Munis
Nuveen’s Miller Dominated Junk Muni Funds, Then They Crashed
The star fund manager says he’s made it through tough times before and expects a rebound this time, too.
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For more than two decades, John Miller helped to build the high-yield municipal bond market. In two weeks in early March, he watched it collapse.
The star fund manager at muni giant Nuveen is famous for the power he wields in the market—and for making bets that other investors shy away from. His fund made wildly successful wagers in the U.S., plunging into the riskiest crevices of state and local government debt as well as into companies and ventures that weren’t easily recognizable as municipal debt. Even when the market was climbing to records earlier this year, Miller’s risk appetite exceeded that of some of his peers.