The folks at $633.7-billion-AUM, multinational asset manager are mimicking a 17-year-old, open end mutual fund in the U.S. with the launch of a new, active ETF.

Yesterday (March 6), Anthony Caruso, head of ETF strategy at Macquarie Asset Management [profile], and Gregory Gizzi, head of U.S. fixed income and head of municipal bonds, unveiled the debut of the Macquarie National High-Yield Municipal Bond ETF (HTAX on the NYSE Arca). Delaware Management COmpany, a series of Macquarie Investment Management Business Trust, serves as the new fund's investment advisor.

HTAX's inception date was Wednesday (March 5), and it comes with an expense ratio of 49 basis points. As of yesterday, the ETF had $5 million in AUM.

The Macquarie team that HTAX is powered by the investment objective and process that power their flagship Macquarie National High-Yield Municipal Bond Fund. That traditional mutual fund (fka the Delaware National High-Yield Municipal Bond Fund) launched on December 31, 2008. As of January 31, 2025, that mutual fund had $3.6 billion in AUM. (Macquarie's muni bond team has $11.8 billion in AUM in total.)

HTAX and that existing mutual fund are also run by the same PM trio: Stephen Czepiel, managing director and senior portfolio manager; William Roach, vice president, senior trader, and PM; and Gizzi himself.

"Offering investors access to our flagship high yield municipal bond strategy within the convenience of an ETF underscores our commitment to delivering exceptional service to our clients," Caruso states.

"We believe high yield municipal bonds can provide investors with a reliable source of tax-advantaged income, and active management is essential to finding opportunities in the over $US4 trillion municipal bond market," Caruso states. "HTAX leverages our yield-focused philosophy, which is grounded in deep, bottom-up research and backed by a dedicated team of research analysts."

HTAX is an actively managed series of the Macquarie ETF Trust. The new ETF's other service providers include: ACA's Foreside Financial Services, LLC as distributor; JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. as custodian, fund accountant, and transfer agent; Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP as counsel; and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as independent accounting firm. 

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