Optimal TIC Bids on Serial Bond Issues

Most serial bond issues are sold competitively on an NIC (net interest cost) basis. The municipality awards the issue to the bidder submitting the lowest NIC. Although it is often acknowledged that NIC is a defective measure of the interest cost and sometimes a costly one to the issuer, an alternative measure, the TIC (true interest cost, effective interest cost, interest cost according to the Canadian method, or the internal rate of return) is often regarded as too computationally difficult to employ. State and local governments are becoming increasingly aware of the internal rate of return or TIC as a measure of interest expense. The use of TIC as a method of awarding bond issues to underwriters is growing very rapidly. This paper contains a simple computer algorithm for calculating optimal bids on a TIC basis.