MUB vs NMB

MUBAiShares National Muni Bond ETF

NMBDSimplify National Muni Bond ETF

In short

MUB Municipal bonds, indexed and cheap. Since 2007, MUB has packaged investment-grade national munis into tax-exempt monthly income for five basis points a year, and it sits among the deepest pools in the muni-ETF aisle.

NMB Most national muni ETFs are cheap index trackers. NMB goes the other way: an actively managed muni portfolio run by credit specialists, with an options-selling sleeve stacked on top for extra income.

Stated mandate

MUB The fund seeks to track an index of investment-grade U.S. municipal bonds, providing diversified exposure to the national municipal-bond market and tax-exempt income.

NMB The fund’s current stated objective is to maximize total return.

Why people hold it

• MUB 0.05% a year against a muni-ETF median near 0.30%. In a category built on modest, tax-exempt yields, that fee gap is real money left in the fund.
• The benchmark is AMT-free: the ICE AMT-Free US National Municipal Index screens out munis whose interest can be pulled into the alternative minimum tax.ishares.com
• Tracks its index closely, one of the tighter jobs in its peer group, and distributes monthly. A multi-billion-dollar fund that trades actively.
• Broad investment-grade exposure across the national muni market, spread over thousands of issuers rather than one state's budget.ishares.com

• NMB Two income engines in one wrapper: tax-free muni coupons plus a risk-managed options-selling strategy that writes spreads across equity, bond and commodity indices and ETFs.simplify.us
• Sub-advised by Foundation Credit, a specialist credit firm, hunting the fragmented muni market for bonds that passive index mandates leave behind.simplify.ussimplify.us 2
• Holds mainly investment-grade municipals with no set duration limits, so the managers can roam the curve instead of matching an index's maturity profile.simplify.ussimplify.us 2

Worth knowing

• MUB Two rivals undercut it: VTEB and SCMB both run 0.03%. A two-basis-point gap is small, but it is a gap.
• A bond fund with no maturity date to hold to. Share prices move with interest rates and muni credit conditions, both directions.
• National by design, so no single-state tilt and no in-state tax angle. iShares runs state-specific muni funds such as NYF for that job.

• NMB Costs 0.52% a year against a 0.30% median for national muni funds. That is the price tag on active management plus the options overlay.
• The options income and opportunistic trading gains are taxable, so the payout is not purely tax-exempt the way a plain index muni fund's is.simplify.us
• A small, lightly traded fund launched in 2024, holding roughly 70 bonds, with distributions that have not followed a fixed calendar.

Full MUB profile⁠

Full NMB profile⁠