GMUB vs MUB

GMUBAGoldman Sachs Municipal Income ETF

MUBAiShares National Muni Bond ETF

In short

GMUB Goldman's 2024 muni entry skips the index-hugging playbook: no declared benchmark, roughly 240 bonds chosen by the desk, 0.18% a year. Cheaper than the typical muni fund, pricier than the index giants.

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

GMUB The Fund seeks substantial current income that is exempt from regular federal 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

• GMUB 0.18% a year undercuts the typical muni bond fund, so the active work costs less than the category norm.
• Targets substantial current income exempt from regular federal income tax, and pays it out monthly.
• Spreads across roughly 240 municipal bonds with no declared index to shadow, leaving credit selection to the managers.
• Stands in the top quartile of a muni field running to over a hundred funds, a strong showing for a young launch.

• 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

• GMUB Index rivals VTEB and MUB charge single-digit basis points, so the active mandate here starts each year behind on cost.
• Thinly traded next to the muni heavyweights, which can mean wider spreads at the moment you trade.
• Launched July 2024, so the track record is short and covers only one stretch of the rate cycle.

• 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 GMUB profile⁠

Full MUB profile⁠