It was a beautiful day in June 1964, when, after estimating expenses over and over, we rolled up our sleeves and opened for business.  The birds in historic Trinity Churchyard singing just outside our windows belied the fact that we were preparing to engage in one of the most competitive businesses in the world. What a thrill it was to think we would be matching wits with giants like Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs and Chase Bank.

Back then, municipal bond dealers dealt with large institutional accounts such as banks and insurance companies. Brokerage houses sold municipal bonds to their very wealthy clients – neither had a very good understanding of municipals. So as one of only two financial institutions specializing in offering municipal bonds for the individual investor, Stoever Glass & Co. was a pioneer in the field.

Our focus has always been on our clients, their satisfaction, and their success. So, we began by constructing a municipal bond inventory using a widely diversified selection of bonds specifically suited to the special needs of individual investors—not banks and insurance companies. We bought bonds that we ourselves would be happy to own again someday, if necessary, because right from the beginning we made it a company policy to bid a market price for any bond we sold to a client.

We also wanted to share our expertise with our clients.  So, we created an educational program for the Stoever Glass clients. Our special educational reports are designed to teach an important phase of the business, to explain the advantages and disadvantages of one type of bond compared to another, and to show our clients how to avoid some of the most common and most costly mistakes.

The centerpiece of our educational program became our Municipal Bond Portfolio Kit. Using model situations, it shows how to construct a portfolio that will give an investor the greatest return on each investment dollar—based upon their personal circumstances. Municipal bond buyers found it to be an important educational tool.

“The Portfolio Planning Kit by Stoever Glass showed me how to profit much more from municipals. It was totally different from anything I had seen. In one hour, I learned more about municipals than I knew after ten years of buying them.”

“It showed me how to use The Bond Buyers’ Index. How to spot bargains in the market. When to buy premiums. Long Term or short term. Notes or bonds. I found the kit so valuable that I insisted my wife read it too, and I’m keeping our copy in the vault.”

Garlan Morse, President (retired) of GTE Sylvania

The results demonstrated in this testimonial may not be representative of the experience of other investors and are no guarantee of future performance or success.

In our 50+ year history, we’ve had some remarkable highlights, but probably none bigger than the following.  In 1976, a young Stoever Glass representative Steve Hueglin made a startling discovery while on a routine search for undervalued bonds. New York City was in crisis at the time and its bonds were commonly trading at 30 to 50 cents on the dollar in the secondary market. Steve looked at New York City’s $67 million Housing Authority Bonds and determined that this special group of bonds might have two levels of coverage—rental income as well as the city’s guarantee and therefore, presented the best opportunity for our clients to take advantage of these depressed prices.

What we found proved to be much greater. Eventually, it was discovered that the bonds were actually guaranteed by the Federal Government – resulting in a $15 million windfall for New York Housing bondholders and national media exposure for Stoever Glass!

Like any successful business, Stoever Glass has evolved over time.  As we’ve grown, we added new products—not at the expense of our expertise in the municipal bond business, but rather as a complement to it. We added Ginnie Maes, high-grade corporate bonds, and Sallie Maes denominated in foreign currencies such as Australian, New Zealand or Swedish.

We’ve come a long way since that day in 1964. We’ve added thousands of clients and can proudly claim that 98% of Stoever Glass clients have done repeat business with us. We’ve added thousands of clients and can proudly claim that 98% of them have done repeat business with us. We have witnessed the demise or takeovers of such giants as Goodbody & Co., DuPont Gore Forgan, Hornblower and Weeks, E.F. Hutton, The Franklin Bank, Thomson McKinnon and many more, both large and small. We have survived two major spinoffs, and we have continued to grow and emerge stronger each time. We have anticipated and adapted to changes in the industry and prospered through it all.

As we have always done, Stoever Glass will continue to emphasize education and the development of new strategies, so our clients get more out of the products we offer.