MUB vs SCNM

MUBAiShares National Muni Bond ETF

SCNMCSterling Capital National 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.

SCNM A boutique shop's take on national munis: income exempt from regular federal income taxes with capital preservation as the second job, measured against the Bloomberg U.S. Municipal Index. It opened in December 2025.

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.

SCNM The Fund seeks current income exempt from regular federal income taxes while preserving capital.

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

• SCNM The mandate is plain: current income exempt from regular federal income taxes, with preserving capital as the stated second goal.
• National scope rather than single-state, so the portfolio isn't tied to one state's tax base the way a New York-only fund like NYF is.
• Benchmarked to the Bloomberg U.S. Municipal Index, the standard yardstick for the broad tax-exempt market, inside a plain 1940 Act ETF wrapper.

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.

• SCNM At 0.35% it prices above the muni category median of 0.30%, and far above index heavyweights VTEB and SCMB at 0.03%. In tax-exempt bonds, fees bite a modest yield.
• It launched in December 2025, so there's little track record to judge, and early trading has been light compared with the category's household names.
• The exemption it targets is from regular federal income taxes. State and local tax treatment is a separate question for the holder.

Full MUB profile⁠

Full SCNM profile⁠