Vanguard Holds Half of PG&E’s $920 Million Municipal Bonds, USAA Second Biggest Holder With $86.6 Million

The Vanguard Group holds about $415 million of municipal bonds issued on behalf of PG&E Corp., about half of the $920 million state and local debt sold for the California utility that’s edging toward bankruptcy because of the fallout from devastating wildfires.

But all but $2 million of the bonds held by Vanguard are backed by banks that act as buyers of last resort for the securities, insulating the money manager from risk, said Freddy Martino, a spokesman. Martino declined to comment on PG&E’s impending bankruptcy, though he said the firm’s holdings have declined about $15 million since its filings at the end of December.