RSW Investments

RSW Investments

Waas established RSW Investments in 2005 after two decades constructing municipal bond products for major asset managers. His career began at Merrill Lynch in 1985, then moved through Van Kampen's separately managed account launch, a municipal arbitrage hedge fund at Deerfield Capital, and ultimately a $4 billion municipal complex at Prudential Investment Management. That arc—from mutual funds to closed-end funds to hedge strategies to separate accounts—forged a shop that brings institutional hedging frameworks to individual bond portfolios. The firm deploys its approximately $2 billion exclusively through separately managed municipal bond accounts, with a secondary capability in taxable fixed income. It does not operate commingled funds. The team constructs state-specific and nationally diversified ladders, actively managing duration, yield curve, and sector exposure. Strategy tilts are informed by macroeconomic commentary that Waas publishes quarterly under titles such as "From Tankers to Lending Pipelines" (Q1 2026) and "Will AI's Thirst for Power Spark Federal Reserve Shenanigans?" (Q3 2025). The firm's accounts target tax efficiency structurally rather than relying solely on the bonds' tax-exempt status. RSW runs lean: a ten-person team anchored by Waas, Senior Portfolio Manager Matthew, and a dedicated municipal research function led by Director of Municipal Research Mark. Mark arrived in 2010 from a senior analyst role at Moody's Investors Service, bringing experience from Morgan Stanley and J.P. Morgan Private Bank. The firm operates from Summit, New Jersey, serving trusts, estates, charitable organizations, and corporations alongside individual investors. In November 2023, RSW added trade desk support, expanding its in-house settlement and reconciliation capacity. RSW's structural distinction lies in its singular asset focus and the continuity of Waas's macro framework. Where most wealth managers treat municipal bonds as an allocation slice, RSW operates as a whole-firm specialty shop—portfolio construction, credit research, trading, and commentary all concentrically organized around one asset class. Succession risk is the inherent question mark in that architecture; the firm has not publicly disclosed a transition plan.