INMU vs TAXI

INMUBiShares Intermediate Muni Income Active ETF

TAXIANorthern Trust Intermediate Tax-Exempt Bond 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.

TAXI The middle rung of Northern Trust's three-part muni lineup: intermediate maturities of 1 to 15 years, thousands of investment-grade bonds, federally tax-exempt income paid monthly, all for five basis points.

Stated mandate

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

TAXI The fund seeks to track the performance of the ICE Intermediate Term Focused Municipal Bond Index before fees and expenses. It is designed for tax-exempt income through passively managed, investment-grade municipal bonds with intermediate maturities of 1–15 years.

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.

• TAXI Charges 0.05% where the typical muni fund charges 0.30%. That ties iShares' MUB and sits within a hair of the Vanguard and Schwab giants at the top of the aisle.
• Roughly 2,500 investment-grade municipal bonds, sampled to track the ICE Intermediate Term Focused Municipal Bond Index. Breadth, not bond-picking, carries the credit risk.flexshares.com
• Income is exempt from federal tax and paid monthly, and the index only counts bonds that also dodge the federal alternative minimum tax.stockanalysis.com
• One setting on a three-position dial: short (TAXS), intermediate (TAXI) and all-maturity (TAXT) from the same desk, so you can shift rate exposure without switching shops.northerntrust.com

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

• TAXI It opened in August 2025. The record is short, so there is little history to judge it against older muni funds.
• Trades lightly next to the category's household names, and its asset base is modest, which can show up as wider spreads at the moment you transact.
• The 1 to 15 year band is a middle seat: less rate whiplash than long-dated munis, more price movement than a short-maturity fund. Bonds here still move when yields do.flexshares.com

Full INMU profile⁠

Full TAXI profile⁠