RJMI vs SCMB

RJMICRJ Eagle Municipal Income ETF

SCMBASchwab Municipal Bond ETF

In short

RJMI A 2025 debut from Raymond James: a national muni bond ETF built bond by bond, aimed at income exempt from federal tax. The trade-off is price, in a corner of the market where the index giants charge three basis points.

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

RJMI The fund seeks to invest at least 80% of its assets in a diversified portfolio of debt securities whose interest is exempt from federal income tax, as determined by issuer bond counsel.

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

• RJMI Explicit mandate: at least 80% of assets in bonds whose interest is exempt from federal income tax, as determined by issuer bond counsel. The portfolio has stuck closely to that label.
• Diversified and national by design, not a single-state sleeve like NYF, so the tax-exempt exposure spreads across many issuers.
• No benchmark to clone. It doesn't share a declared index with the category's big trackers, so the manager picks bonds rather than replicate a list.

• 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

• RJMI 0.41% a year sits above the typical muni ETF and many times the 0.03% at VTEB and SCMB. In a low-coupon category, fees take a visible bite out of tax-free income.
• It opened in October 2025 with a small asset base and light trading, so bid-ask spreads can run wider than at the category's household names.
• Payouts have arrived irregularly rather than on the fixed monthly rhythm many muni funds keep.

• 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 RJMI profile⁠

Full SCMB profile⁠