Capital Creates Critical Infrastructure

Infrastructure is critical—for everyone. Yet, tight budgets across the board and general political gridlock continues to hold back funding. In its "2013 Report Card for America's Infrastructure," the American Society of Civil Engineers listed some dire findings:

• Many water pipes and mains are more than a 100 years old, leading to an estimated 240,000 water-main breaks each year;
• 1-in-9 of the US's more than 600,000 bridges are rated structurally deficient;
• Congestion plagues 42% of urban highways, at an annual cost of $101 billion in wasted fuel and time;
• An estimated 4,000+ dams are deficient, half of which are deemed high-hazard;
• Nationally, school construction dropped to around $10 billion in 2012, about half the pre-recession level, while experts estimate $270 billion or more is needed to modernize and maintain facilities.

Morgan Stanley has been helping public entities raise funds through capital markets for decades. “Capital can be channeled to our critical needs and be productive both for investors seeking competitive market returns and the public entities that ultimately form the foundation of our local communities and long-term economic growth,” says Pat Haskell, the Head of the Municipal Securities team at Morgan Stanley.

Cumulatively, we have helped municipal clients raise more than a $16.5 billion over the past six months. Click on the above interactive map for details about several muni-bond issues and the variety of critical infrastructure improvements they are funding across the US.