Munis also help diversify fixed-income portfolios. Investors who typically follow the Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index will not have municipal bond exposure, so a muni bond ETF can complement core fixed-income positions.
Related: An Alternative Muni Bond ETF Strategy
As the economy continues to improve and employment expands, the growth in personal, corporate and sales tax will help bolster state finances.
Investors who are interested in tracking the U.S. municipal bond market have a number of broad and targeted ETF options available.
Muni bond ETFs:
- iShares National AMT-Free Muni Bond ETF (NYSEArca: MUB)
- SPDR Nuveen Barclays Short Term Municipal Bond ETF (NYSEArca: SHM)
- SPDR Nuveen Barclays Municipal Bond ETF (NYSEArca: TFI)
- VanEck Vectors Intermediate Municipal Index ETF (NYSEArca: ITM)
- PowerShares Insured National Municipal Bond Portfolio (NYSEArca: PZA)
- iShares Short Term National AMT-Free Muni Bond ETF (NYSEArca: SUB)
- PowerShares Build America Bond Portfolio (NYSEArca: BAB)
- Vanguard Tax-Exempt Bond Index Fund (NYSEArca: VTEB)
- VanEck Vectors AMT-Free Short Municipal Index ETF (NYSEArca: SMB)
- PIMCO Intermediate Municipal Bond ETF (NYSEArca: MUNI)
- VanEck Vectors AMT-Free Long Municipal Index ETF (NYSEArca: MLN)
- VanEck Vectors CEF Municipal Income ETF (NYSEArca: XMPT)
- PIMCO Short Term Municipal Bond ETF (NYSEArca: SMMU)
- SPDR Nuveen Barclays Build America Bond ETF (NYSEArca: BABS)
- First Trust Managed Municipal ETF (NasdaqGM: FMB).
- Deutsche X-Trackers Municipal Infrastructure Revenue Bond Fund (NYSEArca: RVNU)
- iShares Short Maturity Municipal Bond ETF (BATS: MEAR)
- VanEck Vectors Pre-Refunded Municipal Index ETF (NYSEArca: PRB)
- Columbia Intermediate Municipal Bond ETF (NYSEArca: GMMB)
High-yield muni ETFs:
- VanEck Vectors High Yield Municipal Index ETF (NYSEArca: HYD)
- SPDR Nuveen S&P High Yield Municipal Bond ETF (NYSEArca: HYMB)
- VanEck Vectors Short High-Yield Municipal Index ETF (NYSEArca: SHYD)
Target-date muni ETFs:
- iBonds Sep 2016 AMT-Free Muni Bond ETF (NYSEArca: IBME)
- iBonds Sep 2017 AMT-Free Muni Bond ETF (NYSEArca: IBMF)
- iBonds Sep 2018 AMT-Free Muni Bond ETF (NYSEArca: IBMG)
- iBonds Sep 2019 AMT-Free Muni Bond ETF (NYSEArca: IBMH)
- iBonds Sep 2020 AMT-Free Muni Bond ETF (NYSEArca: IBMI)
State muni ETFs:
- iShares California AMT-Free Muni Bond ETF (NYSEArca: CMF)
- SPDR Nuveen Barclays California Municipal Bond ETF (NYSEArca: CXA)
- PowerShares Insured California Municipal Bond Portfolio (NYSEArca: PWZ)
- iShares New York AMT-Free Muni Bond ETF (NYSEArca: NYF)
- PowerShares New York AMT-Free Municipal Bond Portfolio (NYArca: PZT)
- SPDR Nuveen Barclays NY Muni Bond (NYSEArca: INY)