Van Eck Proving It's Not All Bad For Muni Bond ETFs

In what has been a controversial year for muni bond ETFs, some are standing above the rest and some of those standout funds can be found in Van Eck's Market Vectors ETF family. In a statement issued today, Van Eck noted that several of its muni bond ETFs have seen robust inflows from investors this year. Van Eck said the six Market Vectors ETFs offering muni bond exposure had $810 million in assets under management as of Nov. 11 and the Market Vectors Intermediate Muni ETF ITM recently crossed the $300 million in AUM level earlier this month. ITM was recently named “Best In Class” by Kiplinger's. The Market Vectors Intermediate Muni ETF, Market Vectors Long Municipal Index ETF MLN and the Market Vectors Short Municipal Index ETF SMB also received four-star ratings from Mornings star at the end of October, Van Eck said in the statement. “Over the past year, we've seen everything from unfulfilled predictions of massive defaults in the municipal market, to a shift in bond pricing that pushed absolute yields on many tax-exempt bonds well above those of comparable Treasuries,” Van Eck muni bond strategist James Colby said in the statement. “However, at the end of it all, many investors have generally benefited from having exposure to the asset class, both on an income-generating and total return basis.” Van Ecks other muni bond ETFs are the Market Vectors High-Yield Muni ETF HYD, the Market Vectors Pre-Refunded Muni ETF PRB and the Market Vectors CEF Municipal Income ETF XMPT.