VanEck Short Muni ETF
$16.98−0.08 (−0.47%)
- Expense ratio
- 0.07%
- Fund size
- $315M
- 1Y return
- +0.4%
- Yield · Last 12 months
- 2.83%
- Holdings
- 335
- Volume · 30D
- 0.1M sh
- NAV per share
- $17.05
- 52W range
The ETF.net SMB Grade
Score 72 of 100 sits in the A 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.AScore 91Category 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.CScore 44Category rankTradability
How cheaply and easily you can get in and out — liquidity, spread, and premium/discount stability.DScore 33Category rankHoldings
What it actually owns — the quality, breadth, and concentration of the underlying portfolio.BScore 56Category rankDurability
Whether it will still be here — the fund’s assets, age, flows, and issuer staying power.BScore 63Category rank
Our read on SMB
AA muni fund built for the short end: VanEck has run this AMT-free, short-maturity national portfolio since 2008, and it charges 0.07%, a fraction of what the typical muni bond ETF costs.
The fund seeks to track the price and yield performance of the ICE Short AMT-Free Broad National Municipal Index before fees and expenses.
Why people hold it
- Charges 0.07% a year, well under the typical muni bond ETF fee. When the whole point is tax-free income, the fee line matters.
- The index is AMT-free by design, so the interest it targets is federally tax-exempt without the alternative minimum tax wrinkle.vaneck.com
- Short maturities mean rate swings move prices less than in long-dated muni funds. Roughly 300 bonds, with income paid monthly.
- Running since 2008, so it has an audited record through a full round trip in interest rates rather than a two-year backtest.
Worth knowing
- The short end of the muni curve is the low-income end. This portfolio is about damping rate moves, not maximizing the payout.
- It is a national fund, aimed at federal tax exemption only. State-level exemption is the job of single-state funds like NYF.vaneck.com
- Broad-maturity rivals VTEB and SCMB charge less and cover the whole curve. The short-maturity focus is the reason to look here.
SMB Holdings
- Other
- 335
- 10%
- -USD CASH-
Geography
- United States100.00%
SMB 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 | SMB |
|---|---|
| Year to date | −0.1% |
| 1 month | −0.7% |
| 3 months | −0.9% |
| 1 year | +0.4% |
| 3 years | +3.3% |
| 5 years | +1.0% |
| 10 years | +1.4% |
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 | SMB |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 YTD | −0.1% | |
| 2025 | +4.6% | |
| 2024 | +2.4% | |
| 2023 | +3.1% | |
| 2022 | −4.5% | |
| 2021 | +0.1% | |
| 2020 | +3.3% |
SMB in the news
ETF.net Research hasn’t filed on SMB yet — coverage lands here as it’s written.
SMB Dividends
- 2.83%
- $0.48
- $0.04 per share
- Monthly
Distribution history
| Ex-date | Pay date | Amount per share |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 1, 2026 | Sep 4, 2026 | $0.04 |
| Aug 3, 2026 | Aug 6, 2026 | $0.04 |
| Jul 1, 2026 | Jul 7, 2026 | $0.05 |
| Jun 1, 2026 | Jun 4, 2026 | $0.04 |
| May 1, 2026 | May 6, 2026 | $0.04 |
| Apr 1, 2026 | Apr 7, 2026 | $0.05 |
| Mar 2, 2026 | Mar 5, 2026 | $0.04 |
| Feb 2, 2026 | Feb 5, 2026 | $0.04 |
| Dec 29, 2025 | Dec 31, 2025 | $0.04 |
| Nov 28, 2025 | Dec 3, 2025 | $0.04 |
| Nov 3, 2025 | Nov 6, 2025 | $0.04 |
| Oct 1, 2025 | Oct 6, 2025 | $0.04 |
SMB 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.
- −0.58
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.
- −7.3%
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.
- 0.33
How it’s calculated: beta
The beta figure is supplied by FMP. The comparison index depends on the fund’s broad asset class.
SMB Cost
- The middle half of Short-Duration Municipal Bonds funds
- Median 0.25%
2 of the 27 Short-Duration Municipal Bonds funds charge less.