MMIT vs TAXE

MMITANYLI MacKay Muni Intermediate ETF

TAXEAT. Rowe Price Intermediate Municipal Income ETF

In short

MMIT Active muni bond-picking in an ETF wrapper. MacKay Shields' municipal desk has run MMIT since 2017, sifting roughly 900 investment-grade, AMT-free bonds for income exempt from federal tax, and paying it out monthly.

TAXE Most muni ETFs just buy the index. TAXE is T. Rowe Price's hand-picked version: roughly 200 intermediate municipal bonds chosen for federally tax-free income with moderate price movement, at 0.24% a year.

Stated mandate

MMIT The Fund seeks current income exempt from federal income tax.

TAXE The fund seeks the highest level of income exempt from federal income taxes while maintaining moderate price fluctuation.

Why people hold it

• MMIT Genuinely active, not an index in disguise: MacKay Shields' muni team picks bonds on credit and yield-curve analysis, targeting a 3 to 10 year duration band.nylim.comstockanalysis.com
• A billion-dollar-plus fund and one of the more actively traded in the intermediate muni group, with roughly 900 bonds spreading issuer risk.
• Trading since 2017, a long run for an active muni ETF, and one of the stronger implementations in its intermediate muni peer group.
• Does the one job it advertises: current income exempt from federal income tax, distributed monthly.

• TAXE At 0.24% a year it undercuts the typical muni ETF fee, unusual for a fund with a manager actually picking the bonds.
• No index to copy. The mandate is plain: the highest federally tax-exempt income the managers can find while keeping price swings moderate.
• The portfolio has stayed tightly aligned with that stated job, one of the stronger implementations among muni ETFs.
• Pays monthly, spreading interest from about 200 intermediate munis across the calendar rather than in quarterly lumps.

Worth knowing

• MMIT 0.30%, net of a fee waiver off 0.46% gross, sits near the category median but above index rivals: TAXI 0.05%, ITM 0.18%, EVIM 0.11% net of a waiver through February 1, 2027.
• Active management cuts both ways: holdings and results can drift from a plain muni index in either direction.nylim.com
• Income is exempt from federal income tax, not state tax, and the bonds still reprice when rates move.nylim.com

• TAXE Cheap for active, still pricier than the index giants: VTEB and SCMB run at 0.03%. The gap is what you pay for human bond selection.
• Trades lightly next to the largest muni ETFs, so bid-ask spreads can be wider, particularly on bigger orders.
• Launched in 2024, so the track record is short and has not yet spanned a full interest-rate cycle.

Full MMIT profile⁠

Full TAXE profile⁠