BKMI vs MMIT

BKMIBBNY Mellon Municipal Intermediate ETF

MMITANYLI MacKay Muni Intermediate ETF

In short

BKMI A muni strategy with roots in 1987, now in ETF form: roughly 500 federally tax-exempt bonds with duration parked between three and eight years. The intermediate lane, priced a step above the muni median.

MMIT Active muni bond-picking in an ETF wrapper. MacKay Shields' municipal desk has run MMIT since 2017, sifting roughly 900 investment-grade, AMT-free bonds for income exempt from federal tax, and paying it out monthly.

Stated mandate

BKMI The ETF seeks to maximize current income exempt from federal income tax while preserving capital. It normally invests at least 80% of its assets in federally tax-exempt municipal bonds, with portfolio effective duration generally between three and eight years.

MMIT The Fund seeks current income exempt from federal income tax.

Why people hold it

• BKMI The mandate is specific: at least 80% in federally tax-exempt munis, effective duration generally three to eight years. No long-bond surprises hiding inside.
• Income is built to come out exempt from federal income tax, with preserving capital named right alongside it in the objective.
• Roughly 500 bonds inside a multi-billion-dollar portfolio, so no single issuer carries the fund.
• The strategy's track record starts in 1987, which is a lot of rate cycles before muni ETFs were even a thing.

• MMIT Genuinely active, not an index in disguise: MacKay Shields' muni team picks bonds on credit and yield-curve analysis, targeting a 3 to 10 year duration band.nylim.comstockanalysis.com
• A billion-dollar-plus fund and one of the more actively traded in the intermediate muni group, with roughly 900 bonds spreading issuer risk.
• Trading since 2017, a long run for an active muni ETF, and one of the stronger implementations in its intermediate muni peer group.
• Does the one job it advertises: current income exempt from federal income tax, distributed monthly.

Worth knowing

• BKMI At 0.35% a year it prices above the muni cohort median of 0.30%, and well above index heavyweights VTEB and SCMB at 0.03%.
• Payouts have arrived on an irregular schedule rather than the fixed monthly rhythm many muni funds keep.
• Trading is moderate rather than heavy, so the spread can be a bigger slice of a round trip than with the category's most-traded muni funds.

• MMIT 0.30%, net of a fee waiver off 0.46% gross, sits near the category median but above index rivals: TAXI 0.05%, ITM 0.18%, EVIM 0.11% net of a waiver through February 1, 2027.
• Active management cuts both ways: holdings and results can drift from a plain muni index in either direction.nylim.com
• Income is exempt from federal income tax, not state tax, and the bonds still reprice when rates move.nylim.com

Full BKMI profile⁠

Full MMIT profile⁠