INMU vs ITM

INMUBiShares Intermediate Muni Income Active ETF

ITMAVanEck Intermediate Muni ETF

In short

INMU An actively run muni portfolio from BlackRock's municipal desk: roughly 600 bonds picked by hand, measured against the Bloomberg Municipal 3-10 Year Index rather than chained to it, with income paid monthly. Fee: 0.30% net of a waiver through June 30, 2027.

ITM Most big muni ETFs buy the whole curve. ITM, running since 2007, sticks to the middle: a passive, AMT-free national index of roughly 1,400 bonds, paid out monthly, for 0.18% a year.

Stated mandate

INMU The fund seeks tax-exempt income and total return through actively managed exposure to intermediate-term municipal bonds.

ITM The fund seeks to track the price and yield performance of the ICE Intermediate AMT-Free Broad National Municipal Index before fees and expenses.

Why people hold it

• INMU Active by design: managers choose bonds across credit tiers, and the fund's secondary yardstick blends mostly investment grade munis with a 10% high yield slice.blackrock.com
• Income lands monthly, spread across roughly 600 municipal positions, so no single issuer or state carries the coupon load.
• 0.30% net of a waiver through June 30, 2027 (0.41% gross) sits near the category median, which is not where most actively managed muni funds land.
• Does what the label says: intermediate national munis, actively managed, and it sits in the upper half of its intermediate muni peer group.

• ITM 0.18% a year against a 0.30% median for muni ETFs in its group. Modest for a fund that screens the maturity range instead of buying the entire market.
• A straight index tracker of the ICE Intermediate AMT-Free Broad National Municipal Index, and it stays unusually close to that benchmark for its cohort.vaneck.com
• Mid-curve by design: shorter maturities than long muni funds mean less price movement per shift in rates, with more coupon than the ultra-short end.vaneck.com
• Roughly 1,400 bonds, income paid monthly, and a 2007 launch that puts several full rate cycles behind it.

Worth knowing

• INMU You pay up for the manager. Index-tracking neighbors run cheaper: TAXI at 0.05%, EVIM at 0.11% net of a waiver through February 1, 2027, ITM at 0.18%.
• The waiver runs out June 30, 2027. Absent a renewal, the cost reverts toward the 0.41% gross fee.
• Tax-exempt is not tax-free for everyone: iShares notes some holders may still owe state income tax or AMT on the income.ishares.com

• ITM Broad national trackers like VTEB, SCMB and MUB run at a few basis points. ITM's fee buys the intermediate screen, not the lowest sticker in the aisle.
• Intermediate maturities soften rate moves rather than cancel them, and municipal issuers carry credit risk.
• National in scope and AMT-free, so there is no single-state tax focus of the kind state-targeted peers like NYF are built around.

Full INMU profile⁠

Full ITM profile⁠