Finance

Partnership connects muncipal finance data with academic researchers

Published

2 years ago

January 17, 2024

Partnership connects muncipal finance data with academic researchers

The University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy’s Center for Municipal Finance is joining forces with Investortools, a fixed income software and data company, to make more data on the municipal finance sector available to academics. It’s the first step in an expansion of the center’s resources as it looks to become the premier destination for municipal finance researchers.

Inspired by a decade-old program at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, the data distribution partnership will connect researchers looking to publish in scholarly journals with data points gathered by Investortools and chosen by the center.

The center will adjust its data points based on feedback from researchers, CMF Director Justin Marlowe said, and the researchers will be able to choose from different data segments.

“We chose data points that we believe are most in demand among researchers,” said Justin Marlowe, director of the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy’s Center for Municipal Finance.

“We chose data points that we believe are most in demand among researchers,” Marlowe said, adding that the partnership is a win for the university because of Investortools’ decades of leadership in the municipal finance industry.

“Their data from government financial statements are widely known as the most comprehensive and reliable in the business,” he said. “And perhaps more important, they are thought leaders who believe high-quality academic research can add tremendous value to practice.”

Investortools pulls data from the audited financial statements of city, county and state governments; the data spans everything from school districts to hospitals to transportation authorities. Its database covers all local governments with populations over 20,000, said Richard Ciccarone, president emeritus of Merritt Research Services, a subsidiary of Investortools, and includes 15 sectors in total.

“It’s a pretty wide net of the credits that are really making a difference,” Ciccarone said.

Few academics can afford top-quality private sector data, and there are a lot of hurdles involved in signing contracts with data vendors, so the academics often wind up using inferior data, said Christopher Berry, the William and Alicia Townsend Friedman professor at the Harris School.

The new partnership gives academics access to Investortools data at lower pricing, and the center handles the administrative work and vetting of researchers.

The Booth School has had a partnership with the Nielsen Corporation through the school’s Kilts Center for Marketing since 2012. Berry said that partnership “has led to some great research,” and has proved to be a stepping stone to other Booth School partnerships with private sector data vendors.

“Our goal is to make the CMF a similar sort of academic repository for private sector data in the municipal finance industry,” he said.

The Harris partnership is already producing results. One group of researchers is currently using Investortools data to examine how natural disasters impact the fiscal health of cities and counties, and to see if climate adaptation planning can act as a buffer. Another group is researching nonprofit hospitals, and how a hospital’s debt load affects the ratio of Medicaid to Medicare to privately insured patients as well as the mix of elective or non-elective procedures performed there.

The latter research recalls one of the earlier, sporadic partnerships that Merritt had with individual academics. Northwestern University Kellogg School of Business professor Thomas Prince used Merritt data to look at nonprofit hospitals; specifically, how bond ratings and debt insurance coverage affected operating performance.

Precursors to the more comprehensive Harris School partnership, those partnerships helped Ciccarone see how such collaboration could serve both parties’ interests, he said.

“We’re going to learn a lot from this whole process,” he said. “All of public finance is going to benefit from the insights developed with the help of this program.”

In screening researchers who apply to use the data, Marlowe said, the center will be looking to answer questions that no one has asked thus far or to update previous knowledge with more recent results.

“The main criterion is that the researchers can articulate how the project might contribute to the academic literature,” he said. “Is it developing new measures of important concepts? If that potential contribution is clear and obvious, then we’re interested.”

Jonathan Anderson, chief product officer at Investortools, said in a statement that the company expects its partnership with the university to deepen understanding of public finance, from the academic realm to market participants.

“We have to speak more of a common language – that’s part of the goal,” said Ciccarone. “It starts with the data.”

Related Topics:Illinois Municipal disclosure public finance

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Finance

Why this sleepy Swiss town has become a ‘bolt-hole’ for the Gulf elite

Published

6 hours ago

April 20, 2026

Press Room

Why this sleepy Swiss town has become a ‘bolt-hole’ for the Gulf elite

As conflict continues to destabilise the Middle East, the Gulf States elite are seeking solace in European alternatives that offer comparable financial benefits with a far lower risk of war on the doorstep. One such destination is the small Swiss town of Zug, which is becoming a “bolt-hole” for Gulf-based wealth, said the Financial Times.

‘Swiss Monaco’

Switzerland’s reputation as a magnet for the world’s financial elite is nothing new. In 2025, the country recorded the “densest concentration of millionaires” with an estimated 146 per 1,000 adults last year, said The Times. Now home to around 135,000 people, Zug’s canton – also named Zug – used to be the “poorest corner of Switzerland” until it lowered its tax rates in the 1950s. “Now it has corporate tax rates of 16.2% compared with 40% in the US and 33.3% in France.”

“In almost all ways Zug is unremarkable”, with its traditional Swiss architecture and cobbled waterfront lanes. But if its “Alpine lake water is clear”, the financial scene is more “murky”. Many credit Marc Rich and Pincus “Pinky” Green, founders of metals and minerals trading firm Glencore, with the transformation of Zug from a “Swiss backwater” to its status as the “Swiss Monaco”. The multinational is headquartered just outside Zug, and has made the town a “global powerhouse for trading crude and refined oil products”. It should be “no surprise” that the “1% of the world’s 1%” are taking shelter there, and at the same time, hoping to still “keep a hand in the oil business”.

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“Industry estimates suggest that tens of billions of dollars could flow into Switzerland depending on how the current conflict evolves,” said the Outbound Investment Group. The “immediate trigger” for the “surge in interest” from Gulf-based investors is the war in the Middle East. However, Switzerland’s underlying appeal is its unwavering “Swissness”: “political neutrality”, “strong legal frameworks”, and reputation for wealth preservation. It’s a safe bet with no sign of slowing.

‘Availability tightening’

There are some drawbacks, said the FT. For “would-be arrivals”, the appeal of the region for Middle Eastern residents comes with “practical constraints”. Those outside the EU “face a higher bar”. Usually, the condition of residency is “tied” to employment or company formation. For the “very wealthy”, there is the added option of “negotiated lump-sum taxation agreements with cantonal authorities” that allow individuals to “pay a flat annual tax based on living expenses rather than global income”.

Even if they are holders of EU passports, the “main bottleneck” is the availability of property. Competition is “intense” and “rental supply is extremely limited, with properties often snapped up within days”. With Zug’s “availability tightening”, other cantons in the region with similar tax arrangements could benefit, such as Lugano, an Italian-speaking city in the Ticino region.

The uncertainty of the duration of the conflict is one of the most pressing concerns, said Bloomberg. The recent breakdown of ceasefire talks risks “forcing a reckoning for the professional and expat classes considering options after putting down roots in the Middle East”.

The short-term benefits of physical safety from leaving the Gulf are clear, but changing tax residency “takes time” and practicalities such as finding schools and “conforming to national requirements such as opening local bank accounts” is often “complicated and time-consuming”. The region’s ultra-wealthy are facing “uncomfortable decisions on whether to make the move permanent, especially with the end of the school year in sight”.

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Finance

How much will Social Security go up next year? See latest forecast

Published

18 hours ago

April 20, 2026

Press Room

How much will Social Security go up next year? See latest forecast

Before Social Security payments are posted this week, many retirees are looking ahead at the potential Cost of Living Adjustment for 2027 with an advocacy group predicting a similar increase to 2026.

On April 10, The Senior Citizens League — a nongovernmental advocacy group for seniors — released its monthly COLA forecast for 2027, saying data showed a 2.8% increase is likely.

“Over the last seven weeks, crude oil prices have soared, and fuel prices have followed suit. Consumers are getting pinched at the pump as gas prices soar, while businesses are paying more for transportation and/or production costs. This energy price shock is beginning to show up in the monthly U.S. inflation report, and it’s having a tangible impact on 2027 COLA forecasts,” The Motley Fool, a financial and investing advice company, and USA TODAY content partner, reported on April 18.

The official announcement will come in October, as it’s based on third-quarter inflation data.

According to Consumer Price Index data published last week, the annual inflation rate reached a two-year high of 3.3%, up 0.9% over the last month. This is largely due to soaring oil prices caused by the war in Iran.

Social Security payments are always scheduled on Wednesdays, with the final wave of this month scheduled for April 22, according to the Social Security Administration. The schedule is based on the birth dates of the recipients — retired, disabled workers or survivors.

Here’s who will get a Social Security check this week and more on the 2027 COLA forecast:

When is the final Social Security in April 2026?

Social Security benefits are sent out based on the recipients’ birth dates. Wednesday, April 22, is the final wave of payments for those with birth dates between the 21st and the 31st of April.

What is the 2027 COLA forecast?

The 2027 COLA increase is forecast to be 2.8% due to continuing inflation prices, according to The Senior Citizens League’s April 10 press release. If the SSA approves that rate of increase, average payment for retired workers would go up by $56 per month in January 2027.

The SCL releases a COLA prediction each month based on the Consumer Price Index, Federal Reserve interest rate and the National Unemployment rate from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Beneficiaries who want to stay updated with the monthly predictions may visit the SCL’s “COLA Watch” webpage that includes the forecast, calculations, historical trends and more.

The official COLA increase for 2027 will be announced in October 2026.

What were the big Social Security changes in 2026?

At the beginning of 2026 recipients received a 2.8% COLA for Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments, according to the SSA’s COLA Fact Sheet and American Association of Retired Persons, increasing payments about $56 per month.

Here are more details on the 2026 COLA increase, per the SSA:

The maximum amount of earnings subject to the Social Security tax increased to $184,500.
The earnings limit for workers who are younger than full retirement age (67 years old) increased to $24,480. (There will be a $1 deduction for each $2 earned over $24,480.)
The earnings limit for people reaching their full retirement age in 2026 increased to $65,160. (There will be a $1 deduction for each $3 earned over $65,160, until the month the worker turns full retirement age.)
There is no limit on earnings for workers who are at full retirement age or older for the entire year.

What should I do if I don’t get my Social Security payment?

According to the SSA, if you don’t receive your payment on the scheduled date, wait three days additional days, then call their office.

Where are the Social Security offices in Michigan?

There are 48 offices in Michigan, and to find an office near you, recipients may use the office locator via the Social Security’s website by entering your zip code for office hours, numbers, available services and more.

How can I replace my Social Security card?

The personal account, “my Social Security” allows recipients to manage their personal records, including a request for a replacement Social Security card and benefit statements for taxes and more. New accounts are created using ID.me or Login.gov as a multifactor authentication.

When will I get my checks in May? Full 2026 schedule

USA TODAY Contributed

Contact Sarah Moore @ smoore@lsj.com

Finance

Hong Kong reasserts role as safe haven in global finance amid Iran conflict

Published

1 day ago

April 19, 2026

Press Room

Hong Kong reasserts role as safe haven in global finance amid Iran conflict

The US-Israeli war on Iran has unleashed sharp swings across global energy and financial markets, fuelling demand for safe-haven assets, with Hong Kong emerging as a potential beneficiary across gold, property and capital markets. In the third of a three-part series, we look at Hong Kong’s position as a stable base where demand for property has held firm despite the global turmoil.

The seven-week military conflict in the Middle East will redefine Hong Kong’s role as a global financial centre, positioning the city as a safe harbour for capital and investments.

Anecdotal evidence suggested that more banks had turned to Hong Kong to protect their businesses and committed themselves to expanding their presence in the city. At the same time, inquiries about adding allocations of mainland Chinese assets among global investors had recently increased, potentially enlarging the customer base for the city’s asset-management industry and family offices and driving demand for offshore yuan-linked financial products.

For years, Hong Kong’s status as a financial centre in the Asia-Pacific region has been challenged by Dubai, which has risen to prominence as a gateway linking Asia and Europe in capital flows, transport and logistics. With the war destabilising the Middle East – at one point forcing the closure of the Dubai International Airport and sending stocks in the Gulf region plunging – Hong Kong has re-emerged due to its geographical location, a pegged exchange rate, free capital flows and support from China’s economic strength.

“In that context, China and Hong Kong are attracting renewed attention,” said Gary Dugan, CEO of The Global CIO Office in Dubai, which advises family offices and ultra-high-net-worth individuals globally. “There is growing interest among some clients in increasing exposure to China and Hong Kong. It is less a simple flight to safety and more a reassessment of where investors see relative value, policy consistency and long-term strategic opportunity.”

Dubai now relies on trade, tourism and finance as the pillars of its economy, reflecting the success of its four-decade diversification away from oil for sustained growth. The United Arab Emirates city is home to Jebel Ali Free Zone, the biggest free-trade zone in the Middle East, and the second-largest stock market in the region, with combined market values of US$1.01 trillion. The city, also a global hub for gold trading, has a population of 4 million, about 80 per cent of which are foreign expatriates. Dubai’s economy grew by 4.7 per cent in the January-to-September period last year.