FSMB vs TAXS: Grades, Fees and Holdings Compared

First Trust Short Duration Managed Municipal ETF

FSMBCNYSE Arca

Northern Trust Short-Term Tax-Exempt Bond ETF

TAXSANasdaq

Overlap

No data

Expense ratio

TAXS −0.50pt a year

FSMB0.55%TAXS0.05%

Avg volume · 30D

FSMB 6.9×the volume

FSMB198KTAXS28.9K

FSMB vs TAXS Performance

Oct 31, 2025 – Oct 30, 2026

+1.8%FSMB+2.6%TAXS

Expense ratio: FSMB 0.55%; TAXS 0.05%, better
Fund size: FSMB $660M; TAXS $194M
1Y total return: FSMB +1.8%; TAXS +2.6%, better
Yield (12M): FSMB 3.22%, better; TAXS 2.38%
Holdings: FSMB 581; TAXS 2424
Avg volume (30D): FSMB 198K sh, better; TAXS 28.9K sh
NAV per share: FSMB $19.77; TAXS $50.11
52W range

ETF.net Grade

Pillar letters and Scores for FSMB, TAXS, with each pillar’s weight
Pillar	FSMB	TAXS
Cost30% weight	F0	A98Higher
Mission25% weight	A100	A100
Risk15% weight	C46	B62Higher
Tradability15% weight	B64Higher	F24
Holdings10% weight	A79	A81Higher
Durability5% weight	A70Higher	C42

Rank among Short-Duration Municipal Bonds funds

How we build Categories ›

Same Category. FSMB and TAXS are both graded against the same 27 Short-Duration Municipal Bonds funds, so their Grades compare head to head.

Short-Duration Municipal Bonds⁠

Category · 27 funds

See all 27 ›

TAXS ranks 4th and FSMB 24th of 27 funds in the Short-Duration Municipal Bonds Category.

Rank 1AVTESVanguard Short-Term Tax-Exempt Bond ETFScore 81
Rank 2ASUBiShares Short-Term National Muni Bond ETFScore 80
Rank 2AVSDMVanguard Short Duration Tax-Exempt Bond ETFScore 80
Rank 4ATAXSNorthern Trust Short-Term Tax-Exempt Bond ETFScore 77
Rank 5ASMBVanEck Short Muni ETFScore 74
Rank 22CTAXXBondBloxx IR+M Tax-Aware Short Duration ETFScore 53
Rank 24CFSMBFirst Trust Short Duration Managed Municipal ETFScore 52
Rank 24CZMUNF/m Ultrashort Tax-Free Municipal ETFScore 52

Our read on each fund

ETF.net Research

FSMBCFirst Trust Short Duration Managed Municipal ETF

TAXSANorthern Trust Short-Term Tax-Exempt Bond ETF

In short

FSMB Most short-duration muni ETFs are plain index trackers. FSMB is run by hand, and its prospectus lets up to 35% of net assets sit in below-investment-grade munis. Federally tax-exempt income, paid monthly, at a 0.55% fee.

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

FSMB The fund seeks federally tax-exempt income while emphasizing capital preservation.

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

FSMB An active manager picking short-dated munis instead of copying an index, with prospectus room for up to 35% of net assets in below-investment-grade paper.ftportfolios.com
Spreads its bets across roughly 600 bonds and pays federally tax-exempt income monthly.
Listed in 2018 and has stuck closely to its stated short-duration municipal mandate ever since.

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.com northerntrust.com

Worth knowing

FSMB The fee is 0.55%, above the category norm, while index peers VTES (0.05%) and SUB (0.07%) charge a fraction of that.
That credit latitude cuts both ways: capital preservation is the stated aim, not a floor, and lower-rated munis can move the price.ftportfolios.com
Moderately traded rather than heavily traded, so spreads and trade timing matter more than in the category's biggest index funds.

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 FSMB profile⁠

Full TAXS profile⁠

FSMB vs TAXS Holdings

How FSMB and TAXS differ

No overlap figure

Two bond funds rarely hold the same issues.

Level by level

Asset classFixed Income100%
Countryby domicile99.8%

Sector

No Sector split for FSMB and TAXS.

Country, concentration and asset class

Country by domicile

Country weights in FSMB and TAXS, widest gap first
Country	More in FSMBMore in TAXS	FSMB	TAXS
United States	TAXS +0.2 points	99.8%	100.0%
Guam	FSMB +0.1 points	0.1%	0.0%
Canada	Same weight	0.0%	0.0%

Concentration

Weight in the 10 largest Holdings

FSMB6.7%
TAXS3.2%

Securities held

FSMB569
TAXS1,306

Asset class

FSMB: Fixed Income
TAXS: Fixed Income

Holdings

Two bond funds rarely hold the same issues, so this page lists no shared Holdings. FSMB holds 569 securities, TAXS 1,306.

All 580 FSMB holdings⁠All 2,424 TAXS holdings⁠

How we measure overlap

Each holding counts at its smaller weight in the two funds, summed over the full Holdings. Sector, country and asset class use the same rule on each fund’s split. Cash, FX and derivative lines stay out of the counts. Two bond funds get no overlap figure.

FSMB vs TAXS Cost

Overpaying FSMB vs TAXS

$9,844

On $10,000 over 30 years. 7% growth a year before fees, expense ratio only.

FSMB 0.55%
$10,904
TAXS 0.05%
$1,060

Amount$10,000

Years30 years

Cost over time

FSMB 0.55%
TAXS 0.05%
Overpaying

Year by year

Year	FSMB	TAXS	Overpaying
10	$988	$92	$896
20	$3,790	$360	$3,430
30	$10,904	$1,060	$9,844

Expense ratio

0.55%FSMB
0.05%TAXS, cheaper

TAXS0.05%FSMB0.55%

0.05%0.55%

Middle half of Short-Duration Municipal Bonds funds
Median 0.21%

TAXS cheapest of 27 funds

FSMB 27th cheapest of 27 funds

FSMB vs TAXS Dividends

Last 12 months to Oct 30, 2026

Yield (12M): FSMB 3.22%, better; TAXS 2.38%
Payout (12M): FSMB $0.64; TAXS $1.20
Last payment: FSMB $0.05; TAXS $0.11
Ex-dividend: FSMB Oct 21, 2026; TAXS Oct 1, 2026
Paid on: FSMB Oct 30, 2026; TAXS Oct 7, 2026
Frequency: FSMB Monthly; TAXS Monthly

Distribution history

Per share, 2023 to 2026, same scale for both

FSMBMonthly · 46 paymentsAll FSMB payments⁠

TAXSMonthly · 14 paymentsAll TAXS payments⁠

FSMB vs TAXS Risk

Fall from peak · 5 years

This chart needs five years of history for both funds.

Risk facts

VolatilityStd dev, 3 years: FSMB 2.5%TAXS 2.8%since Sep 2025
Return per unit of riskSharpe ratio, 3 years: FSMB −0.27TAXS −0.51since Sep 2025
Worst fallMax drawdown, 5 years: FSMB −5.9%TAXS −1.9%since Aug 2025
Market sensitivityBeta, 5 years: FSMB 0.34TAXS 0.03; Market = 1

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