MUB vs TFI

MUBAiShares National Muni Bond ETF

TFIAState Street SPDR Nuveen ICE 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.

TFI Launched in 2007, this is one of the elder statesmen of municipal bond ETFs: roughly 1,900 AMT-free bonds, income paid monthly, and a fee that sits under the category median.

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.

TFI The fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the price and yield performance of the ICE 1+ Year AMT-Free Broad Municipal 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

• TFI 0.23% expense ratio, below the 0.30% median for muni bond ETFs.
• About 1,900 bonds spread across the US muni market, so no single issuer or project carries much weight.
• Tracks the ICE 1+ Year AMT-Free Broad Municipal Index closely, and ranks among the stronger implementations in a crowded muni field.ssga.com
• Pays monthly, and the index screens out bonds subject to the alternative minimum tax.

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.

• TFI Three-basis-point rivals like VTEB and SCMB cover broad munis for a fraction of the fee. Here you pay more for a track record dating to 2007.
• The index runs from one-year paper out to the long end, so share prices move with interest rates.
• Volume is moderate rather than heavy, so spreads can run wider than at the largest muni funds.

Full MUB profile⁠

Full TFI profile⁠