BlackRock Debuts Active Muni ETF

Today, BlackRock rolled out another active ETF under its main brand rather than the iShares name. The  BlackRock High Yield Muni Income Bond ETF (HYMU) can invest in a range of municipal bond debt, and its portfolio is designed to hold at least 65% of its weight in low or medium quality securities.

HYMU comes with an expense ratio of 0.35% and lists on Cboe Global Markets.

The fund’s managers select bonds for the portfolio based on their expectations that the securities potentially offer high returns relative to their risk. The prospectus notes that HYMU can invest up to 100% of its assets in junk bonds and up to 20% in securities deemed “distressed,” meaning that they have defaulted or are involved in bankruptcy proceedings or have exceptionally low credit ratings.

Out of 56 bond ETFs targeting the U.S. municipal market, there are only three high yield muni bond ETFs currently trading, and none of them is actively managed.

State Street Closes 10 ETFs

Yesterday, State Street Global Advisors finalized the closure of 10 of its ETFs. The funds join six other ETFs that have shuttered so far this year, bringing the total to 16. The affected funds are as follows:

• SPDR Dorsey Wright Fixed Income Allocation ETF (DWFI)
• SPDR EURO STOXX Small Cap ETF (SMEZ)
• SPDR MFS Systematic Core Equity ETF (SYE)
• SPDR MFS Systematic Growth Equity ETF (SYG)
• SPDR MFS Systematic Value Equity ETF (SYV)
• SPDR Solactive Canada ETF (ZCAN)
• SPDR Solactive Germany ETF (ZDEU)
• SPDR Solactive United Kingdom ETF (ZGBR)
• SPDR Solactive Hong Kong ETF (ZHOK)
• SPDR Solactive Japan ETF (ZJPN)

The 16 closures are far fewer than the 57 funds that had shut down by this time last year.

Contact Heather Bell at [email protected]