First Trust Short Duration Managed Municipal ETF
$19.56−0.14 (−0.69%)
- Expense ratio
- 0.34%
- Fund size
- $646M
- 1Y return
- +0.8%
- Yield · Last 12 months
- 3.21%
- Holdings
- 567
- Volume · 30D
- 0.1M sh
- NAV per share
- $19.70
- 52W range
The ETF.net FSMB Grade
Score 55 of 100 sits in the B band. Bands: A ≥ 70, B ≥ 55, C ≥ 40, D ≥ 25, F < 25; the scale skips E.
Cost
What you pay to own it — the expense ratio plus trading frictions, ranked within its category.FScore 15Category rankMission
How faithfully it does the job it claims — tracking its mandate or index with minimal slippage.AScore 100Category rankRisk
How violently it can move — volatility, drawdown depth, and downside capture versus its category.DScore 38Category rankTradability
How cheaply and easily you can get in and out — liquidity, spread, and premium/discount stability.BScore 64Category rankHoldings
What it actually owns — the quality, breadth, and concentration of the underlying portfolio.AScore 77Category rankDurability
Whether it will still be here — the fund’s assets, age, flows, and issuer staying power.AScore 70Category rank
Our read on FSMB
BFirst Trust's active counterpunch to the muni index crowd: a short-maturity portfolio of roughly 500 tax-exempt bonds, run for federally tax-free income with capital preservation as the stated priority. Pays monthly.
The fund seeks federally tax-exempt income while emphasizing capital preservation.
Why people hold it
- Actively managed, not index-bound. A team picks which short-maturity munis to hold instead of buying whatever a benchmark dictates.
- Spread across roughly 500 bonds, so no single issuer's credit stumble dominates the portfolio.
- Income arrives monthly, and the mandate targets interest exempt from federal income tax.
- A mid-sized fund that changes hands steadily, which usually keeps the cost of getting in and out modest.
Worth knowing
- 0.34% a year. The giant index muni funds (VTEB, MUB) charge a small fraction of that, so active security selection is what the extra fee buys.
- Short maturities damp price swings when rates move, and they also mean less income on offer than longer-dated muni portfolios.
- The exemption in the mandate is federal. State and local treatment depends on the bonds and on where you file.
FSMB Holdings
- Bonds
- 567
- 7%
- SOUTHEAST ENERGY AUTH COOPERATIVE DIST AL Variable rate, due 11/01/2055
FSMB Performance
Shows how $10,000 changes over the selected period, with cash distributions reinvested at the closing price on each ex-dividend date.
Returns run to the Sep 22, 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 | FSMB |
|---|---|
| Year to date | +0.4% |
| 1 month | −0.9% |
| 3 months | −0.9% |
| 1 year | +0.8% |
| 3 years | +3.3% |
| 5 years | +1.3% |
| 10 years | — |
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 | FSMB |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 YTD | +0.4% | |
| 2025 | +4.2% | |
| 2024 | +2.4% | |
| 2023 | +3.5% | |
| 2022 | −3.7% | |
| 2021 | +1.2% | |
| 2020 | +3.4% |
FSMB in the news
ETF.net Research hasn’t filed on FSMB yet — coverage lands here as it’s written.
FSMB Dividends
- 3.21%
- $0.63
- $0.05 per share
- Monthly
Distribution history
| Ex-date | Pay date | Amount per share |
|---|---|---|
| Aug 21, 2026 | Aug 31, 2026 | $0.05 |
| Jul 21, 2026 | Jul 31, 2026 | $0.05 |
| Jun 25, 2026 | Jun 30, 2026 | $0.05 |
| May 21, 2026 | May 29, 2026 | $0.05 |
| Apr 21, 2026 | Apr 30, 2026 | $0.05 |
| Mar 26, 2026 | Mar 31, 2026 | $0.05 |
| Feb 20, 2026 | Feb 27, 2026 | $0.05 |
| Jan 21, 2026 | Jan 30, 2026 | $0.05 |
| Dec 12, 2025 | Dec 31, 2025 | $0.05 |
| Nov 21, 2025 | Nov 28, 2025 | $0.05 |
| Oct 21, 2025 | Oct 31, 2025 | $0.05 |
| Sep 25, 2025 | Sep 30, 2025 | $0.05 |
FSMB Risk
- 2.1%
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.
- −0.55
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.
- −5.9%
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.
- 0.34
How it’s calculated: beta
The beta figure is supplied by FMP. The comparison index depends on the fund’s broad asset class.
FSMB Cost
- The middle half of Short-Duration Municipal Bonds funds
- Median 0.25%
22 of the 27 Short-Duration Municipal Bonds funds charge less.