MMIN vs SCMB

MMINBNYLI MacKay Muni Insured ETF

SCMBASchwab Municipal Bond ETF

In short

MMIN MacKay Shields has run this one since 2017 around a niche most muni ETFs ignore: insured municipal bonds, investment-grade paper carrying a bond insurer's policy. Actively managed, pays monthly, 0.30% net of a fee waiver.

SCMB Schwab's take on the core muni sleeve: three basis points, thousands of AMT-free bonds from across the country, and a monthly distribution. Bottom-of-the-table pricing, no frills attached.

Stated mandate

MMIN The Fund seeks current income that is exempt from federal income tax.

SCMB The fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the total return of an index representing the U.S. AMT-free municipal bond market.

Why people hold it

• MMIN The hook is the insurance: bonds whose timely principal and interest are covered by an insurer's policy, layered on the issuer's own investment-grade credit.sec.govsec.gov 2
• Actively run, not indexed. MacKay Shields sets a macro view on rates and tax policy, then picks individual bonds through bottom-up credit research.sec.gov
• Income is the mandate: current income exempt from federal income tax, paid out monthly across roughly 230 bonds.

• SCMB Three basis points a year, against a 0.30% median for muni bond funds. Among the top-graded names in the category, only Vanguard's VTEB matches that fee.
• Follows the ICE AMT-Free Core U.S. National Municipal Index across thousands of bonds and issuers, so no single borrower or state drives the portfolio.
• Plain passive plumbing done well: it stays close to its index, trades actively, and pays monthly. One of the stronger implementations in the muni aisle.

Worth knowing

• MMIN Active insured munis cost more than plain beta: 0.30% net of a fee waiver (0.46% gross), near the category median, versus VTEB at 0.03% and MUB at 0.05%.
• Insurance covers timely principal and interest, not market value, share price or distributions, and fund shares are not insured. Insurer downgrades can hit prices.sec.govsec.gov 2
• More than 25% of assets can sit in munis linked by one economic, business or political development. Trading is moderate rather than heavy, so spreads can matter.sec.gov

• SCMB Launched in 2022, so its live record is shorter than muni staples like MUB and VTEB, even though the strategy is the same broad-market idea.
• Bond math still applies. This is a portfolio of municipal bonds, so share prices move opposite to interest rates.
• National in scope, not single-state like NYF, so it is not built around any one state's tax rules.

Full MMIN profile⁠

Full SCMB profile⁠