Category Review
Municipal bond funds are down for the year after a third-quarter selloff erased the first-half gain
First Trust Managed Municipal ETF
$48.33+0.28 (+0.58%)
- 0.39%
- $1.9B
- −2.2%
- 3.84%
- 0.3M sh
- $48.02
- low $47.38high $52.03
The ETF.net FMB Grade
B
Score 67 out of 100
- 20 of 63
Score 67 of 100 falls in the B band. A is 70 or higher, B 55 to under 70, C 40 to under 55, D 25 to under 40, F under 25.
Cost
The fund’s net expense ratio, ranked against its category.D26 out of 100Rank 44 of 63Mission
Whether the fund did what it promised, tested against its stated mandate.A100 out of 100Rank 1 of 59Risk
How the fund held up when markets fell: downside volatility, drawdowns and tail loss.B55 out of 100Rank 22 of 63Tradability
How easy the fund is to trade: daily volume, and how far its price strays from net asset value.A89 out of 100Rank 1 of 63Holdings
How concentrated the fund is, and how complete and current its disclosed holdings are.A92 out of 100Rank 3 of 63Durability
Whether the fund is likely to stay open, judged by its age, its assets and its issuer’s assets.A79 out of 100Rank 8 of 63
Our read on FMB
BMost muni ETFs hand you an index and call it a day. FMB is the hands-on one: First Trust's managers pick the bonds, spread across roughly 1,300 issues, and pay out federally tax-exempt income monthly. Running since 2014.
The fund normally invests at least 80% of its assets in federally tax-exempt municipal securities, including general-obligation, revenue, project, pre-refunded, and related municipal money-market or synthetic securities.
Why people hold it
- Active by design. A manager chooses the bonds rather than copying a benchmark, chasing federally tax-exempt income first and long-term appreciation second.sec.gov
- Roughly 1,300 municipal issues in the portfolio, so no single school district, hospital or toll road steers the whole fund.
- Income arrives monthly, and a multi-billion-dollar asset base plus a 2014 launch make it one of the more seasoned active muni ETFs on the board.
- The portfolio has stayed tight to the tax-exempt muni mandate it advertises, which puts it in the upper half of a very crowded muni field.
Worth knowing
- Active costs money: 0.39% a year against index heavyweights like VTEB and SCMB at 0.03%. That fee gap is the hurdle the stock picking works against.
- The exemption is from regular federal income tax. State and local taxes, and gains on the shares themselves, are a separate conversation with your accountant.sec.gov
- Moderately traded rather than a volume monster, and municipal bonds themselves trade thinly, which can widen the spread you pay on the way in or out.
FMB Holdings
- Bonds
- 1,249
- 5%
- MEADE CNTY KY INDL BLDG REVENUE Variable rate, due 08/01/2061
FMB Performance
Shows how $10,000 changes over the selected period, with cash distributions reinvested at the closing price on each ex-dividend date.
FMB$9,776
Returns run to the Oct 12, 2026 close, with cash distributions reinvested. Each period starts on the same date that many months or years earlier. Periods over one year show the average yearly return.
| Period | FMB |
|---|---|
| Year to date | −3.4% |
| 1 month | −2.0% |
| 3 months | −5.3% |
| 1 year | −2.2% |
| 3 years | +2.8% |
| 5 years | −0.3% |
| 10 years | +1.7% |
Calendar-year total return with cash distributions hypothetically reinvested at the ex-dividend date’s closing price. The current year shows year to date.
| Year | Return bar | FMB |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 YTD | −3.4% | |
| 2025 | +3.7% | |
| 2024 | +2.0% | |
| 2023 | +6.3% | |
| 2022 | −9.9% | |
| 2021 | +2.4% | |
| 2020 | +4.4% |
FMB in the news
FMB Dividends
- 3.84%
- $1.85
- $0.16 per share
- Monthly
Distribution history
FMB Risk
- 5.5%
How it’s calculated: standard deviation
The sample standard deviation of monthly total returns, multiplied by the square root of 12.
Uses up to 36 complete months, with at least 12 required. Total returns include reinvested distributions.
- −0.31
How it’s calculated: Sharpe ratio
Subtract each month’s Treasury-bill return from the fund’s monthly total return.
Divide the average of those excess returns by their sample standard deviation, then multiply by the square root of 12.
Uses up to 36 complete months, with at least 12 required. Each month uses the Treasury yield quoted at the end of the previous month.
- −13.7%
How it’s calculated: maximum drawdown
The largest percentage decline from an earlier peak, using total returns with reinvested distributions.
Uses up to five years through the last close, with at least 12 months required.
- 0.86
How it’s calculated: beta
The beta figure is supplied by FMP. The comparison index depends on the fund’s broad asset class.
FMB Cost
0.39%
FMB0.39%
- The middle half of Other Municipal Bond funds
- Median 0.30%
43 of the 63 Other Municipal Bond funds charge less.
Other funds in Other Municipal Bond
- BAVMUAvantis Core Municipal Fixed Income ETFExpense ratio 0.15%1 year return −2.5%
- BDFCADimensional - California Municipal Bond ETFExpense ratio 0.19%1 year return −1.6%
- BCATFAmerican Century California Municipal Bond ETFExpense ratio 0.25%1 year return −1.7%
- BPWZInvesco California AMT-Free Municipal Bond ETFExpense ratio 0.28%1 year return −3.7%
- BPMIOPGIM Municipal Income Opportunities ETFExpense ratio 0.25%1 year return −0.6%