MUNX vs VTEB

MUNXCAMG GW&K Muni Income ETF

VTEBAVanguard Tax-Exempt Bond ETF

In short

MUNX A Boston bond boutique's muni playbook in an ETF wrapper. GW&K's team picks individual tax-exempt bonds across sectors, maturities and credit tiers, aiming at federally tax-free income instead of mirroring an index.

VTEB Vanguard's national muni index fund, running since 2015 at three basis points, a tenth of what the typical muni ETF charges. Its benchmark screens for investment-grade bonds whose income is exempt from federal tax and the AMT.

Stated mandate

MUNX The Fund seeks current income exempt from federal income tax while preserving capital. Capital appreciation is a secondary objective.

VTEB VTEB seeks to track an index measuring the investment-grade segment of the U.S. municipal bond market. It uses passive sampling to approximate the index and generally invests in federally tax-exempt municipal securities.

Why people hold it

• MUNX Actively run rather than index-shadowing: managers can shift sectors, maturities and credit quality inside a muni market where many bonds trade by appointment.amgetfs.com
• At 0.29% a year, it charges a shade under the typical muni bond ETF while running an active book instead of a rules-based one.
• Clear job description: core intermediate US munis, federally tax-exempt income first, capital preservation alongside it, price appreciation only a secondary goal.amgetfs.com
• Income is designed to arrive monthly per the fund's filings, and the portfolio stays tightly inside that tax-exempt muni mandate with no side bets.

• VTEB Three basis points a year against a 0.30% muni-ETF median. On tax-exempt bonds, where coupons are modest, that fee gap is a real slice of the payout.
• The index holds only investment-grade munis whose interest is exempt from federal income tax and the alternative minimum tax, so the income carries no AMT surprise.vanguard.com
• A multi-billion-dollar fund and one of the most heavily traded in the muni category, which tends to show up as tight bid-ask spreads. Income is paid monthly.
• It has tracked its benchmark closely and sits among the strongest implementations in a crowded muni bond peer group.

Worth knowing

• MUNX Index munis undercut it sharply: VTEB and SCMB charge 0.03%. Active bond selection is the entire reason to pay the difference here.
• Launched in late 2025, so the record is short and trading has been light. Spreads can run wider than the big muni index funds, which makes execution matter.
• Payout timing has been uneven early on, and the exemption is federal only: state taxes and bonds subject to the AMT are still in play.aaii.com

• VTEB Federal exemption, not blanket coverage. Income can still be taxable in your home state, which is why single-state funds like NYF exist alongside it.vanguard.com
• Credit quality is investment grade, so rates are the main swing factor: when muni yields rise, bond prices and the fund's share price fall.vanguard.com
• Sampling, not full replication. The fund owns a representative slice of a very large index rather than every bond in it.vanguard.com

Full MUNX profile⁠

Full VTEB profile⁠