SCMB vs TFI

SCMBASchwab Municipal Bond ETF

TFIAState Street SPDR Nuveen ICE Municipal Bond ETF

In short

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.

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

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.

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

• 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.

• 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

• 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.

• 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 SCMB profile⁠

Full TFI profile⁠