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Q

You say, “Today, the ability to research a bond issue and have the necessary financial disclosure documents available have never been more important,” and “… investors should seek out a bond specialist to provide the vital research required to make intelligent investment decisions.” From this, might we deduce that a bond recommended by my FMSbonds agent Jason Berwick should be further researched? Each time I consult my Edward Jones broker, his reply is simply, “It is not in our system,” indicating that it is therefore not reliable. It is quite confusing.

A

James A. Klotz responds:

Your e-mail crystallizes our point.

I am confident that any stock you mention to your Edward Jones broker will be in his “system.” Conversely, FMSbonds would not offer an opinion on any stock since this is not our area of expertise.

Because we specialize exclusively in buying and selling municipal bonds, all recommendations made by Mr. Berwick have been thoroughly vetted by our research department before they are offered to you or any client.

We will not recommend any tax-free bond if we are not comfortable with its credit quality.

With all due respect to your broker, no one can be expert in all markets. Bonds are all we do. If your broker was a specialist in municipal bonds, he would have access to all the information referred to in our commentary, whether his firm recommended them or not.

The fact that it is not in his “system” should not be interpreted as indicative of anything but lack of information.