ETF Evaluator: American Century California Muni Bd ETF () Follow This ETF

American Century California Muni Bd ETF Overview

American Century California Muni Bd ETF (CATF) is an actively managed Municipal Bond Muni California Intermediate exchange-traded fund (ETF). American Century Investments launched the ETF in 2024.

The investment seeks high current income that is exempt from federal and California income taxes. The fund invests in California municipal and other debt securities. Under normal market conditions, the portfolio managers invest at least 80% of the fund’s net assets, plus borrowings for investment purposes, in municipal securities with interest payments exempt from federal and California income taxes.

About American Century California Muni Bd ETF (CATF)

There are 2 members of the management team with an average tenure of 2.04 years: Alan Kruss (2024) and Joseph Gotelli (2024). Management tenure is more important for actively managed ETFs than passive index ETFs.

American Century California Muni Bd ETF has 305 securities in its portfolio. The top 10 holdings constitute 11.5% of the ETF’s assets. The ETF meets the SEC requirement of being classified as a diversified fund. The ETF is not considered to have an ESG focus with its investment selection and management.

American Century California Muni Bd ETF is part of the Fixed Income global asset class and is within the Municipal Bond ETF group. American Century California Muni Bd ETF has 3.5% of its portfolio invested in foreign issues. The overall assets allocated to domestic stock is 0.0% There is 0.0% allocated to foreign stock, and 0.0% is allocated to preferred stocks. The bond allocation as a percentage of total assets is 95.6% (92.1% domestic bond, 3.5% foreign bond and 0.0% convertible bond). American Century California Muni Bd ETF has 4.4% of the portfolio in cash.

Assets Under Management

The fund has $81 million in total assets, which is below the $772 million average for the Muni California Intermediate category. Normally, lower assets under management translates to higher average expense ratios, and greater total assets are desired. However, for some investment categories, such as small-cap investing, it may be difficult for the manager to fully employ the desired active strategy if assets grow too large or too quickly.

CATF Performance and Fees

The expense ratio measures how much of a fund’s assets are used for administrative expenses and operating expenses, including adviser fees and fees for the transfer agent and custodial services. The American Century California Muni Bd ETF expense ratio is below average compared to funds in the Muni California Intermediate category. American Century California Muni Bd ETF has an expense ratio of 0.27%, which is 7% higher than its category average, making the fund expense ratio grade a B. While it is difficult to predict returns, it is known that high annual expense ratios reduce your rate of return, and excessive fees are difficult to overcome. Active management normally comes with higher expense ratios than passive index management. Certain investment categories such as small company and foreign also normally have higher expense ratios. It is best to compare fund expense ratios against the category averages for meaningful assessments.

High portfolio turnover can translate to higher expenses and lower aftertax returns. American Century California Muni Bd ETF has a portfolio turnover rate of 47%, which indicates that it holds its assets around / 0.0 years. By way of comparison, the average portfolio turnover is 69% for the Muni California Intermediate category.

Recently, in the month of July 2026, American Century California Muni Bd ETF returned -1.8%, which earned it a grade of F, as the Muni California Intermediate category had an average return of -1.5%. The letter grades of A, B, C, D and F are based upon relative rankings within the investment category. A grade of A, for example, would indicate that the return is in the highest 20% for that time period compared to all ETFs in that category.

American Century California Muni Bd ETF has a trailing yield of 3.57%, which is above the 3.27% category average. The fund normally distributes its income monthly and its capital gains annually.

It’s natural to seek the best-performing investments, but you must consider the relationship between risk and return and the impact of costs and taxes on your realized returns.

American Century California Muni Bd ETF Grades

Year to date, the ETF has returned 0.5%, 0.3 percentage points better than the category, which translates into a grade of B. The fund has returned 5.8% over the past year (grade of A).

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