VTEB vs XMPT

VTEBAVanguard Tax-Exempt Bond ETF

XMPTDVanEck CEF Muni Income ETF

In short

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.

XMPT XMPT skips the bonds and buys the funds: roughly 40 U.S.-listed municipal closed-end funds, leverage and NAV discounts included, in one monthly-paying ticker.

Stated mandate

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.

XMPT XMPT seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the price and yield performance of an index representing U.S.-listed closed-end funds investing in U.S.-dollar-denominated, tax-exempt markets.

Why people hold it

• 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.

• XMPT One ticker for a corner of the market that otherwise means buying muni closed-end funds one at a time, then tracking each fund's discount yourself.vaneck.com
• The index sorts muni closed-end funds into leveraged, unleveraged and high-yield buckets, and leans weight toward those trading at discounts to NAV.vaneck.com
• Pays monthly, drawn from closed-end funds that invest in U.S.-dollar-denominated, tax-exempt municipal markets.
• Trading since 2011, so its record covers real rate spikes and discount swings, not a backtest.

Worth knowing

• 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

• XMPT All-in cost is 3.4%, above the muni category median; plain index funds like VTEB (0.03%) and MUB (0.05%) sit at the far other end.
• Most of that headline figure is the underlying funds' own fees, folded in under SEC fund-of-funds rules; VanEck's direct management fee is the smaller piece.vaneck.comsec.gov
• Discounts to NAV can widen as easily as they narrow, and leverage inside the underlying funds amplifies muni moves in both directions.vaneck.comvaneck.com 2

Full VTEB profile⁠

Full XMPT profile⁠