MUB vs RTAI

MUBAiShares National Muni Bond ETF

RTAIFRareview Tax Advantaged Income 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.

RTAI RTAI doesn't buy munis. It buys the closed-end funds that own them, hunting prices below the value of their holdings, and pays monthly. Cost: 4.59% net of a waiver through January 31, 2027 (5.24% gross).

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.

RTAI The Fund seeks total return with an emphasis on current income, with a substantial portion intended to be exempt from federal income taxes.

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

• RTAI It's a fund of funds: unaffiliated municipal bond closed-end funds, bought at a discount or premium to the value of what they hold.sec.gov
• Income is the stated point, with a substantial portion of it intended to be exempt from federal income taxes, and the payout arrives monthly.
• It measures itself against the Bloomberg Municipal Bond Index rather than copying it, so a manager decides which closed-end funds to own and when.sec.gov

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.

• RTAI Cost is the trade-off: 4.59% net of a waiver through January 31, 2027 (5.24% gross), versus 0.03% at VTEB and 0.05% at MUB, and above the category median.
• A small, lightly traded fund, so spreads and the gap between share price and net asset value can run wider than at the category's giants.
• Closed-end fund prices can sit above or below the bonds inside them, so results ride on discount swings as well as the muni market itself.sec.gov

Full MUB profile⁠

Full RTAI profile⁠