FTNJ vs MUB

FTNJBFranklin New Jersey Municipal Income ETF

MUBAiShares National Muni Bond ETF

In short

FTNJ A New Jersey-only muni portfolio in an ETF wrapper: the mandate is current income exempt from both federal and New Jersey personal income tax, run off a Franklin strategy whose lineage goes back to 1990. Narrow by design, in a cohort ruled by national funds.

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

FTNJ The fund seeks a high level of current income exempt from federal income tax and New Jersey personal income tax.

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

• FTNJ The cohort's biggest names are national portfolios or other single states. This one is built for New Jersey, targeting income exempt from federal and NJ personal income tax.
• Roughly 160 municipal bonds pointed at one clearly stated job: a high level of double tax-exempt current income for New Jersey taxpayers.
• The strategy's lineage runs back to 1990, so this is a long-tenured muni mandate in ETF clothing, not a ticker minted last week for a theme.
• It stays close to what the prospectus promises: a plain muni income portfolio with no leverage, no derivatives overlay, no structural surprises.

• 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

• FTNJ The 0.35% annual fee sits above the typical muni ETF's. Index giants like VTEB and MUB cost a fraction, though neither is New Jersey-specific.
• One state, about 160 bonds. Concentration is the price of the state tax break, so New Jersey budget and credit news lands harder here than in a national fund.
• A modest asset base and only moderate trading mean spreads can matter more than in the mega national muni funds, and payouts arrive on an irregular schedule.

• 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 FTNJ profile⁠

Full MUB profile⁠