The folks at a publicly traded, 87-year-old, $1.54-trillion-AUM (as of May 31) asset manager are entering the active muni bond ETF space.

Timothy John "Tim" Coyne T. Rowe Price Head of Exchange-Traded Funds

This morning, Tim Coyne, global head of ETFs at T. Rowe Price [profile], unveiled the launch of the T. Rowe Price Intermediate Municipal Income ETF (TAXE on the Nasdaq). The fund is a series of T. Rowe Price Exchange-Traded Funds.

TAXE's inception date was yesterday, and it began trading today. The new ETF comes with an expense ratio of 24 basis points. It had $21.25 million in AUM yesterday.

T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc. serves as investment advisor to TAXE. Charlie Hill and James Lynch, two portfolio managers in T. Rowe's fixed income division, will co-chair the new fund's investment advisory committee (i.e. its PM team).

According to the T. Rowe team, the launch of TAXE expands T. Rowe's active ETF lineup to 16 funds in total. That includes six on the fixed income side. T. Rowe launched its first active ETFs four years ago.

"For four years, we've continued to expand our ETF offerings to offer key strategies that meet the evolving needs and interests of our clients," Coyne states. "With the launch of the Intermediate Municipal Income ETF, it was important for us to establish an offering in the federally tax-free category."

"We remain dedicated to delivering attractive ETFs that pair our long history of active management expertise and investment insights with the benefits of the ETF vehicle," Coyne adds.

Lynch describes TAXE as giving investors "access to T. Rowe Price's time-tested active municipal bond management, which uses rigorous proprietary research to identify market opportunties and manage risk."

TAXE's other service providers include: Bank of New York Mellon as middle office provider; PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as independent accounting firm; State Street Bank and Trust Company as custodian, fund accounting agent, securities lending agent, and transfer agent; T. Rowe Price Investment Services, Inc. as distributor and principal underwriter; and Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP as counsel. 

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