MUB vs PWZ

MUBAiShares National Muni Bond ETF

PWZBInvesco California AMT-Free Municipal 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.

PWZ A California-only muni ETF that has been running since 2007 and leans long: its index targets longer-dated, core-plus California bonds, federally tax-exempt, AMT-free, with cash paid out monthly.

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.

PWZ The fund is designed around the ICE BofAML California Long-Term Core Plus Municipal Securities Index and generally invests at least 80% of assets in index municipal securities that are federally tax-exempt.

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

• PWZ One of the veterans of single-state muni investing, trading since 2007 and spreading across roughly 1,200 California bonds rather than a handful of big issues.
• AMT-free by design: the mandate targets index municipal bonds whose interest is exempt from federal tax and steers clear of the alternative minimum tax wrinkle.invesco.com
• A 0.28% expense ratio, slightly under the typical muni bond ETF, on a fund that runs into the billions and pays monthly.

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.

• PWZ The index is long-term core plus, so the portfolio sits at the far end of the maturity curve and moves more with interest rates than short-dated muni funds.
• One state, one budget: every bond here is a California issue, so there is no geographic spread across other states.
• Broad national muni funds such as VTEB and MUB charge a fraction of the fee, though they hold bonds from across the country instead of concentrating in California.

Full MUB profile⁠

Full PWZ profile⁠