AMUN vs TAXS

AMUNBabrdn Ultra Short Municipal Income Active ETF

TAXSANorthern Trust Short-Term Tax-Exempt Bond ETF

In short

AMUN Ultra-short munis run by an active desk instead of an index, under a strategy whose track record dates to 1986. The aim: high after-tax income with capital preservation, paid out monthly.

TAXS Northern Trust's muni index fund keeps every bond under five years to maturity and charges 0.05%, a fraction of the typical muni ETF fee. Roughly 1,700 federally tax-exempt bonds, none of them AMT bonds, with interest paid monthly.

Stated mandate

AMUN The fund seeks high after-tax current income while preserving capital.

TAXS The fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the price and yield performance of the ICE Short-term Focused Municipal Bond Index. It is designed for tax-exempt income through passively managed, investment-grade municipal bonds with short-term maturities.

Why people hold it

• AMUN A human desk picks the bonds and sets duration here, rather than mirroring a muni index. The stated job: high after-tax current income while preserving capital.
• 0.25% net of a waiver running through February 28, 2028, versus a 0.74% gross fee, and near what short-muni funds typically charge.
• Income lands monthly, and the portfolio stays inside its lane: US municipal bonds at the ultra-short end of the curve.

• TAXS 0.05% a year sits at the low end of the muni aisle, where the typical fund charges several times that, and matches the fee on MUB, the category's iShares heavyweight.
• Index rules admit only investment-grade bonds with under five years left to final maturity, so the portfolio skips the long-end price swings that define all-maturity muni funds.flexshares.com
• About 1,700 bonds, all exempt from federal tax and screened to exclude alternative minimum tax paper, with income distributed monthly rather than accrued.flexshares.com
• Passive, sampled, and run by Northern Trust's municipal desk, which has managed muni portfolios for more than 30 years. The index does the picking, not a manager's hunch.flexshares.comnortherntrust.com

Worth knowing

• AMUN Cheaper index options sit on the same shelf, like VTES at 0.05% and SUB at 0.07%. Active management is what the extra cost buys.
• Thinly traded and small by category standards, so limit orders matter and spreads can be wider than at the big index funds.
• Capital preservation is the goal, not a promise: muni credit and rate moves still move the price, and the waiver is scheduled to end.

• TAXS It launched in 2025 and trades lightly next to muni mainstays like VTEB and MUB, so spreads can run wider and the track record is short.
• Federally tax-exempt is not tax-free. That interest can still be taxed by your state and city.flexshares.com
• Sub-five-year munis generally carry lower yields than longer maturity portfolios. That is the other side of the milder rate sensitivity.flexshares.com

Full AMUN profile⁠

Full TAXS profile⁠