MMIT vs TAXI

MMITANYLI MacKay Muni Intermediate ETF

TAXIANorthern Trust Intermediate Tax-Exempt Bond 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.

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

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

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

• 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.

• 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

• 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

• 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 MMIT profile⁠

Full TAXI profile⁠