NMB vs SCMB

NMBDSimplify National Muni Bond ETF

SCMBASchwab Municipal Bond ETF

In short

NMB Most national muni ETFs are cheap index trackers. NMB goes the other way: an actively managed muni portfolio run by credit specialists, with an options-selling sleeve stacked on top for extra income.

SCMB Schwab's take on the core muni sleeve: three basis points, thousands of AMT-free bonds from across the country, and a monthly distribution. Bottom-of-the-table pricing, no frills attached.

Stated mandate

NMB The fund’s current stated objective is to maximize total return.

SCMB The fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the total return of an index representing the U.S. AMT-free municipal bond market.

Why people hold it

• NMB Two income engines in one wrapper: tax-free muni coupons plus a risk-managed options-selling strategy that writes spreads across equity, bond and commodity indices and ETFs.simplify.us
• Sub-advised by Foundation Credit, a specialist credit firm, hunting the fragmented muni market for bonds that passive index mandates leave behind.simplify.ussimplify.us 2
• Holds mainly investment-grade municipals with no set duration limits, so the managers can roam the curve instead of matching an index's maturity profile.simplify.ussimplify.us 2

• SCMB Three basis points a year, against a 0.30% median for muni bond funds. Among the top-graded names in the category, only Vanguard's VTEB matches that fee.
• Follows the ICE AMT-Free Core U.S. National Municipal Index across thousands of bonds and issuers, so no single borrower or state drives the portfolio.
• Plain passive plumbing done well: it stays close to its index, trades actively, and pays monthly. One of the stronger implementations in the muni aisle.

Worth knowing

• NMB Costs 0.52% a year against a 0.30% median for national muni funds. That is the price tag on active management plus the options overlay.
• The options income and opportunistic trading gains are taxable, so the payout is not purely tax-exempt the way a plain index muni fund's is.simplify.us
• A small, lightly traded fund launched in 2024, holding roughly 70 bonds, with distributions that have not followed a fixed calendar.

• SCMB Launched in 2022, so its live record is shorter than muni staples like MUB and VTEB, even though the strategy is the same broad-market idea.
• Bond math still applies. This is a portfolio of municipal bonds, so share prices move opposite to interest rates.
• National in scope, not single-state like NYF, so it is not built around any one state's tax rules.

Full NMB profile⁠

Full SCMB profile⁠