Interest Rate Derivatives
George K. Baum & Company has devoted significant resources to developing and growing its swap expertise as interest rate swaps have become a widely-used financing tool in municipal finance.  The firm has extensive experience in the competitive interest rate swap market and has created its own AA- rated derivatives affiliate to act as counterparty in swap transactions.

George K. Baum & Company has served as either principal, bidding agent or swap advisor in connection with more than 225 swap transactions with over $6 billion in total initial notional amount. Our team of swap experts assists clients in structuring, pricing and analyzing complicated swap transactions. They also track clients’ existing swap contracts to allow our clients to be positioned to take advantage of market opportunities.

Services that we provide when acting as swap agent include:

Structuring Advice:  Determine the most attractive swap structure for the client with consideration for how the swap product fits within both the specific financing structure and the client’s overall outstanding debt portfolio.

Document Negotiation:  Work with the client’s counsel to negotiate the legal documents that support the swap transaction to ensure fair and reasonable provisions are incorporated into the contract between the client and the swap provider.

Pricing Verification or Bid Solicitation: George K. Baum & Company can act as either swap advisor or bidding agent.  In either role, the firm works on behalf of the client to confirm that the swap rate it locks in is a fair, reasonable and defensible rate – either by checking the pricing as an advisor or via a competitive bid process.

On-Going Swap Maintenance and Support: Monitor swap payment invoices and mark-to-market values to be sure they are accurate and interface with the swap provider to remedy any discrepancies or problems.

The professionals that staff our short-term desk have established strong relationships with all providers of interest rate swaps and have extensive industry knowledge of applicable trends and products.

GKB Financial Services Corporation
To ensure that our municipal finance clients have access to all the products and services the public debt markets can provide, George K. Baum Holdings, Inc., the parent of George K. Baum & Company, has created a subsidiary:  GKB Financial Services Corporation (“FSC”).  FSC’s mission is to provide clients with non-traditional financial products such as interest rate swaps, caps and hedges. 

George K. Baum & Company has the ability to negotiate interest rate swaps directly with our clients through FSC. 

Negotiated Underwriter and Remarketing Agent of Taxable & Tax-Exempt Short Term Notes

Reinvestment of Bond Proceeds

Key Contacts