MUB vs PZT

MUBAiShares National Muni Bond ETF

PZTCInvesco New York 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.

PZT One of the few ETFs built only for New York municipal bonds, and it fishes at the long end of the curve. Tracks a long-term New York muni index, aims for income exempt from federal tax and free of the AMT, and has been running since 2007.

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.

PZT The Fund seeks current income exempt from federal income tax through a portfolio of New York municipal securities. It generally invests at least 80% of assets in municipal securities comprising its declared index.

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

• PZT A single-state mandate with a clear job: New York municipal securities chosen to pay income exempt from federal tax, with the alternative minimum tax screened out.invesco.com
• The benchmark is a long-term New York muni index, so this is a deliberate long-maturity stance rather than a blended one.invesco.com
• Roughly 1,200 bonds, so no single New York issuer carries the portfolio. Income is paid monthly.
• At 0.28%, the fee sits a shade below the median for muni bond ETFs.

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.

• PZT That 0.28% is still well above the cheapest New York option, iShares' NYF at 0.09%, and far above broad national muni funds priced near 0.03%.
• Trading is thin next to national muni ETFs, which tends to mean wider spreads on the way in and out.
• Two concentrations stack here: one state's credit and the long end of the maturity curve, where prices move more when rates do.

Full MUB profile⁠

Full PZT profile⁠