Weekly Channel Summary
The Municipal ETF channel continues to show steady growth and significant investor interest, currently managing a total of $186.2 billion in Assets Under Management (AUM). The channel consists of 133 ETFs offered by 47 unique issuers. This past week saw strong demand with total net inflows of $1.52 billion. Momentum remains positive on a broader scale as well, with Year-to-Date (YTD) flows reaching $1.72 billion and trailing one-year flows totaling $40.73 billion.
This Week’s Performance Leaders and Laggards
Municipal bonds across the board experienced positive performance this week. The High Yield category led the way with a Week-to-Date (WTD) return of 0.59%, also maintaining the strongest YTD performance in the group at 0.63%. Conversely, the Short duration category was the laggard for the week, returning 0.27%, which aligns with its lower-risk profile. All municipal categories remain in positive territory for the young year.
Category Performance Snapshot
| Category | WTD | 1 Month | 3 Month | 6 Month | YTD | 1 Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High Yield | 0.59% | 0.98% | 2.04% | 5.27% | 0.63% | 4.87% |
| Intermediate | 0.48% | 0.95% | 1.85% | 4.93% | 0.56% | 5.31% |
| Long | 0.47% | 0.88% | 1.86% | 6.18% | 0.52% | 3.57% |
| Single State | 0.46% | 0.90% | 1.73% | 4.89% | 0.51% | 4.11% |
| Short | 0.27% | 0.58% | 0.97% | 2.13% | 0.30% | 4.16% |
Top & Bottom 5 ETFs by Weekly Performance
The single best-performing ETF this week was the Rareview Tax Advantaged Income ETF (RTAI), which climbed 1.06%. On the downside, the X-Square Municipal Income ETF (ZTAX) saw a decline of -1.41%, making it the week’s notable outlier. The Invesco Floating Rate Municipal Income ETF (PVI) also saw relatively flat performance, gaining only 0.01%.
| Ticker | Fund Name | WTD Performance |
|---|---|---|
| Top Performers | ||
| RTAI | Rareview Tax Advantaged Income ETF | 1.06% |
| XMPT | VanEck CEF Muni Income ETF | 0.91% |
| OVM | Overlay Shares Municipal Bond ETF | 0.82% |
| MUST | Columbia Multi-Sector Municipal Income ETF | 0.73% |
| HIMU | iShares High Yield Muni Active ETF | 0.71% |
| Bottom Performers | ||
| ZTAX | X-Square Municipal Income ETF | -1.41% |
| PVI | Invesco Floating Rate Municipal Income ETF | 0.01% |
| AMUN | Abrdn Ultra Short Muncipal Income Active ETF | 0.08% |
| ZMUN | F/m Ultrashort Tax-Free Municipal ETF | 0.09% |
| FUMB | First Trust Ultra Short Duration Municipal ETF | 0.12% |
Analyzing the Weekly Flows
Net flows for the Municipal ETF channel were robust this week, reaching $1.52 billion. The Intermediate category dominated the activity, capturing $1.20 billion in new money while overseeing a total AUM of $123.7 billion. Single State municipal ETFs also saw healthy interest with $145 million in weekly inflows. On the issuer side, while most broad categories were positive, specific products in the short-duration and state-specific high-yield segments saw minor outflows.
Category Flows Summary
| Category | Fund Count | AUM | 5 Day | 30 Day | 90 Day | YTD | 1 Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fixed Income: Municipal – Intermediate | 54 | $123.7B | $1,205M | $3,295M | $10,684M | $1,321M | $23,006M |
| Fixed Income: Municipal – Single State | 28 | $14.0B | $145M | $660M | $1,894M | $160M | $3,575M |
| Fixed Income: Municipal – Short | 24 | $29.1B | $111M | $1,460M | $2,883M | $145M | $8,595M |
| Fixed Income: Municipal – High Yield | 18 | $14.9B | $47M | $519M | $1,274M | $71M | $4,985M |
| Fixed Income: Municipal – Long | 9 | $4.5B | $16M | $71M | $43M | $22M | $569M |
Top & Bottom 5 ETFs by 5-Day Flow
The Vanguard Tax-Exempt Bond ETF (VTEB) led all municipal ETFs with $418 million in weekly inflows. On the outflow side, the State Street SPDR Nuveen ICE Short Term Municipal Bond ETF (SHM) saw the largest withdrawal of $10 million, followed by the Franklin Municipal High Yield ETF (FTMH) with $6 million in net outflows.
| Ticker | Fund Name | 5-Day Flow |
|---|---|---|
| Inflows | ||
| VTEB | Vanguard Tax-Exempt Bond ETF | $418M |
| MUB | iShares National Muni Bond ETF | $214M |
| FLMI | Franklin Dynamic Municipal Bond ETF | $118M |
| JMUB | JPMorgan Municipal ETF | $109M |
| ITM | VanEck Intermediate Muni ETF | $52M |
| Outflows | ||
| SHM | State Street SPDR Nuveen ICE Short Term Municipal Bond ETF | ($10M) |
| FTMH | Franklin Municipal High Yield ETF | ($6M) |
| FTCA | Franklin California Municipal Income ETF | ($6M) |
| FTNY | Franklin New York Municipal Income ETF | ($3M) |
| FCAL | First Trust California Municipal High Income ETF | ($2M) |
Issuer League Table Update
iShares and Vanguard continue to dominate the Municipal ETF landscape, controlling 33.36% and 26.52% of the market share respectively. Vanguard was the clear leader in gathering assets this week with $547 million in net flows. Among top issuers, SPDR was the only brand to see a weekly outflow, losing $7 million.
Top 5 Issuers by AUM
| Brand | Fund Count | AUM | AUM Market Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| iShares | 10 | $62.13B | 33.36% |
| Vanguard | 8 | $49.38B | 26.52% |
| JPMorgan | 4 | $13.63B | 7.32% |
| SPDR | 5 | $9.51B | 5.11% |
| Capital Group | 3 | $8.36B | 4.49% |
Top & Bottom 3 Issuers by 5-Day Flow
| Brand | 5-Day Flow |
|---|---|
| Inflows | |
| Vanguard | $547M |
| iShares | $326M |
| JPMorgan | $121M |
| Outflows | |
| SPDR | ($7M) |
| Simplify | $0M |
| Aberdeen | $0M |
For a deeper dive into these trends, access our FREE, in-depth Municipal ETF reports in the right side panel of this page.
Disclosures
This material is for informational purposes only and should not be considered investment advice. All investments, including ETFs, involve risk, including the possible loss of principal. Investors should consider their investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses carefully before investing.
This analysis was developed by the team at ETF Action. We leverage advanced AI tools to assist in the drafting and refinement of our content, based on our expert prompts, direction, and final review.
