ITM vs TXXI

ITMAVanEck Intermediate Muni ETF

TXXICBondBloxx IR+M Tax-Aware Intermediate Duration ETF

In short

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.

TXXI Most muni ETFs pick a lane. TXXI runs both: at least half in federally tax-exempt munis, the rest in taxable bonds, with duration held to a 3 to 5 year band. Actively managed by bond shop IR+M, launched in 2025.

Stated mandate

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.

TXXI The Fund seeks attractive after-tax income while preserving capital. It invests in dollar-denominated municipal and taxable intermediate-duration fixed-income securities, normally allocating at least 50% of assets to federally tax-exempt municipal securities and seeking a 3–5-year weighted-average portfolio duration.

Why people hold it

• 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.

• TXXI The mandate is written down, not implied: a 50% floor in federally tax-exempt munis, the balance in taxable fixed income, weighted-average duration kept between 3 and 5 years.
• What it holds matches what it says. The portfolio stays inside its tax-aware, intermediate-duration lane rather than drifting long or into pure taxable credit.
• Distributions land monthly, so income arrives on a steady schedule instead of in quarterly lumps.
• The blend is the point: a manager deciding where after-tax income looks better, munis or taxables, instead of an index locking the fund into one side.

Worth knowing

• 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.

• TXXI At 0.35% it runs above the muni-fund median of 0.30%, and index heavyweights VTEB and SCMB charge 0.03%. Active management and the crossover mandate are what the gap buys.
• A small, thinly traded fund launched in 2025: spreads can be wider than the big muni trackers, and the track record is still short.
• Only half the book must be tax-exempt. Income from the taxable sleeve is federally taxable, so the shelter is partial compared with a pure muni fund.

Full ITM profile⁠

Full TXXI profile⁠