MMMA vs SCMB

MMMABNYLI MacKay Muni Allocation ETF

SCMBASchwab Municipal Bond ETF

In short

MMMA A December 2025 debut from MacKay's muni team: mostly long-dated investment-grade munis with room for up to 40% high yield. Active credit picking in a corner of the market most funds index. 0.35% 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

MMMA The Fund seeks current income that is exempt from regular U.S. 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

• MMMA Built long on purpose. Predominantly long-duration investment-grade munis, the slice of the curve where tax-exempt yields are richest, chosen by MacKay's muni desk.nylim.com
• Credit flexibility is written into the mandate: at least 60% investment-grade munis, with up to 40% available for opportunistic non-investment-grade bonds.nylim.comstreetinsider.com
• 0.35% net of a fee waiver (0.72% gross) lands near the muni category median, even though a human team is underwriting every bond.
• Roughly 50 positions, so the team's credit calls actually move the portfolio instead of washing out across thousands of CUSIPs.

• 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

• MMMA Index rivals cost far less: VTEB and SCMB charge 0.03%, MUB 0.05%. Active muni research is the thing you are paying the difference for.
• Long duration swings both ways. When rates move, prices here move more than a short or intermediate muni fund's.nylim.com
• Launched December 2025, still small and thinly traded. New-fund disclosures note there is no assurance it reaches an economically viable size.nylim.com

• 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 MMMA profile⁠

Full SCMB profile⁠