ETF Spotlight: iShares S&P National Municipal Bond

ETF Spotlight on iShares S&P National Municipal Bond (NYSEArca: MUB), part of a weekly series.

Assets: $1.3 billion

Holdings: The fund holds investment-grade municipal bonds, rated at least BBB- by Standard & Poor’s, Baa3 by Moody’s or BBB- by Fitch. Each bond must be denominated in U.S. dollars and have a minimum term to maturity of one calendar month.

Objective: MUB seeks to track the iShares S&P National AMT-Free Municipal Bond Index.

What’s Good

• MUB has an expense ratio of 0.25% with 409 holdings
• Yields 3.64%
• It’s up 6.1% year-to-date
• Muni bonds are exempt from federal taxes and, in some cases, state and local taxes

The Latest News

• Among fixed-income funds in the third quarter, municipal bonds nabbed seven of the top 10 spots
• There is still a large amount of debt hanging over many state and local economies, so demand for debt investments could remain high, according to analysts
• Municipal bond ETFs offer many benefits as they give investors a low-cost and safe way to invest in the municipal market
• Since municipal bonds are more transparent than any other bond, you know exactly where your money is

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