AVMU vs MUB

AVMUBAvantis Core Municipal Fixed Income ETF

MUBAiShares National Muni Bond ETF

In short

AVMU Active muni management at index-fund pricing. Avantis runs a broad investment-grade portfolio of roughly 500 municipal bonds for 0.15%, half the typical fee in its category, aimed at income exempt from federal tax.

MUB Municipal bonds, indexed and cheap. Since 2007, MUB has packaged investment-grade national munis into tax-exempt monthly income for five basis points a year, and it sits among the deepest pools in the muni-ETF aisle.

Stated mandate

AVMU The fund seeks income exempt from federal income tax by investing broadly in investment-grade municipal debt. It uses active portfolio oversight and current-yield information while pursuing diversification and controlled turnover.

MUB The fund seeks to track an index of investment-grade U.S. municipal bonds, providing diversified exposure to the national municipal-bond market and tax-exempt income.

Why people hold it

• AVMU 0.15% a year for an actively run muni portfolio, against a category median near 0.30%. A manager for close to what many funds charge to follow an index.
• Broad by design: roughly 500 investment-grade munis, with diversification and controlled turnover written into the stated mandate rather than left to a manager's mood.avantisinvestors.com
• The portfolio does what the prospectus says: US investment-grade municipal debt, federal tax-exempt income, and one of the stronger showings in a crowded muni peer group.

• MUB 0.05% a year against a muni-ETF median near 0.30%. In a category built on modest, tax-exempt yields, that fee gap is real money left in the fund.
• The benchmark is AMT-free: the ICE AMT-Free US National Municipal Index screens out munis whose interest can be pulled into the alternative minimum tax.ishares.com
• Tracks its index closely, one of the tighter jobs in its peer group, and distributes monthly. A multi-billion-dollar fund that trades actively.
• Broad investment-grade exposure across the national muni market, spread over thousands of issuers rather than one state's budget.ishares.com

Worth knowing

• AVMU Thinly traded with a modest asset base, so bid-ask spreads can run wider than at index heavyweights like VTEB and MUB.
• Cheap for active, not cheap outright: index rivals VTEB and SCMB charge 0.03%. You are paying up for the oversight.
• The exemption is federal only, and municipal bonds still carry interest-rate and credit risk. A 2020 launch means a shorter track record than the muni mainstays.avantisinvestors.com

• MUB Two rivals undercut it: VTEB and SCMB both run 0.03%. A two-basis-point gap is small, but it is a gap.
• A bond fund with no maturity date to hold to. Share prices move with interest rates and muni credit conditions, both directions.
• National by design, so no single-state tilt and no in-state tax angle. iShares runs state-specific muni funds such as NYF for that job.

Full AVMU profile⁠

Full MUB profile⁠