Market Vectors Adds to Family of Muni Bond ETFS; Launches Short Term Municipal Bond ETF On American Stock Exchange

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--New York-based asset manager Van Eck Global today launched on the American Stock Exchange® the Market Vectors-Lehman Brothers AMT-Free Short Municipal Index ETF (Amex: SMB - News). The new ETF is designed to offer investors exposure to investment-grade municipal bonds with a nominal maturity of 1-6 years.

SMB seeks to replicate, before fees and expenses, the price and yield performance of the Lehman Brothers AMT-Free Short Continuous Municipal Index. Lehman Brothers is the world’s largest provider of fixed income benchmarks and producer of some of the most widely followed benchmarks in the global debt markets. Issues in the underlying Lehman Brothers index are investment grade and AMT-free. The net expense ratio of SMB is 0.16%. This new ETF joins the Market Vectors Intermediate and Long municipal ETFs, launched by Van Eck on the Amex® in December and January, respectively.

“There are compelling cost savings associated with purchasing municipal bonds through an ETF platform—I like to think of it as ‘more munis for the money’,” said Jan van Eck, Principal at Van Eck Global. “Market Vectors now offers investors a selection of three national municipal bond ETFs at different points along the yield curve. With our short, intermediate and long muni ETFs, investors can choose the maturities that best suit their needs. These ETFs are structured to offer enhanced yield through broader diversification of index constituents.”