Category Review
Municipal bond funds are down for the year after a third-quarter selloff erased the first-half gain
JPMorgan California Tax Free Bond ETF
$47.65+0.31 (+0.65%)
- 0.44%
- $508M
- 0M sh
- $47.34
- low $46.98high $50.47
The ETF.net JCAL Grade
D
Score 35 out of 100
- 57 of 63
Score 35 of 100 falls in the D 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.F17 out of 100Rank 52 of 63Mission
Whether the fund did what it promised, tested against its stated mandate.Risk
How the fund held up when markets fell: downside volatility, drawdowns and tail loss.D38 out of 100Rank 57 of 63Tradability
How easy the fund is to trade: daily volume, and how far its price strays from net asset value.C50 out of 100Rank 32 of 63Holdings
How concentrated the fund is, and how complete and current its disclosed holdings are.C50 out of 100Rank 42 of 63Durability
Whether the fund is likely to stay open, judged by its age, its assets and its issuer’s assets.A74 out of 100Rank 14 of 63
Our read on JCAL
DMost muni ETFs buy the whole country. JCAL buys California: an actively run book of roughly 300 in-state bonds whose income is built to skip federal and California income tax for state residents.
The fund seeks federal tax-exempt income and capital preservation for California residents through a diversified portfolio primarily consisting of tax-exempt California municipal bonds. It uses credit analysis and seeks to keep effective duration within two years of its benchmark.
Why people hold it
- As a fundamental policy, at least 80% of assets sit in munis whose income is exempt from federal and California personal income tax for state residents and outside the federal individual AMT.sec.govsec.gov
- Actively run, not indexed: the managers do their own credit work on California issuers and aim to keep effective duration within two years of the benchmark.am.jpmorgan.com
- Spread across about 300 bonds, so no single California issuer carries the portfolio, and income goes out quarterly.
Worth knowing
- 0.34% a year is real money beside national index munis like VTEB (0.03%) and MUB (0.05%). Single-state active management costs more, and the tax break has to cover the gap.
- Thinly traded next to the big national muni funds, so spreads and order size matter more here than they would in a household-name ETF.
- One state, one tax code: the state exemption only does work for California taxpayers, and the portfolio rides California's issuer and budget cycle.
JCAL Holdings
- Bonds
- 315
- 18%
- Jpmi Tax Free Mmktf Im
Geography
- United States100.00%
JCAL Performance
Shows how $10,000 changes over the selected period, with cash distributions reinvested at the closing price on each ex-dividend date.
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JCAL$9,524
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 | JCAL |
|---|---|
| Year to date | — |
| 1 month | −1.7% |
| 3 months | −4.8% |
| 1 year | — |
| 3 years | — |
| 5 years | — |
| 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 | JCAL |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 YTD | −4.5% |
JCAL in the news
JCAL Dividends
- $0.14 per share
- Monthly
Distribution data unavailable.
Distribution history
JCAL Risk
- —
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.
- —
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.
- —
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.
- 1.01
How it’s calculated: beta
The beta figure is supplied by FMP. The comparison index depends on the fund’s broad asset class.
JCAL Cost
0.44%
JCAL0.44%
- The middle half of Other Municipal Bond funds
- Median 0.30%
52 of the 63 Other Municipal Bond funds charge less.
Other funds in Other Municipal Bond
- DRMNYRockefeller New York Municipal Bond ETFExpense ratio 0.55%1 year return −2.5%
- DMBNDState Street Nuveen Municipal Bond ETFExpense ratio 0.40%1 year return −2.7%
- DJTNYJPMorgan New York Tax Free Bond ETFExpense ratio 0.43%1 year return —
- DXMPTVanEck CEF Muni Income ETFExpense ratio 3.40%1 year return −7.3%
- DNMBSimplify National Muni Bond ETFExpense ratio 0.52%1 year return −5.0%