RMNY vs VTEB

RMNYCRockefeller New York Municipal Bond ETF

VTEBAVanguard Tax-Exempt Bond ETF

In short

RMNY A New York-only muni bond fund run by a live manager instead of an index. Rockefeller hand-picks the bonds, chasing income that skips both the federal and the New York state tax bill, and pays it out monthly.

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

RMNY The Fund seeks income exempt from federal and New York state income taxes. It is actively managed and invests primarily in New York municipal bonds.

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

• RMNY Narrow by design: the prospectus targets income exempt from federal and New York state income taxes, invested primarily in New York municipal bonds.
• Active, not indexed. The manager can move across issuers, maturities and credit tiers rather than holding whatever a benchmark prescribes.
• What is on the label is what is in the portfolio: holdings line up closely with the stated New York muni mandate.
• Income arrives monthly rather than quarterly.

• 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

• RMNY Active costs real money: 0.55% a year against a 0.30% muni-fund median, and far above index New York rivals such as NYF at 0.09%.
• A small, thinly traded fund, so bid-ask spreads can run wider than the giant national muni ETFs.
• Launched in 2024, so the live record is short, and a single-state book ties you to one state's issuers and tax rules.

• 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 RMNY profile⁠

Full VTEB profile⁠