Fund Evaluator:
BlackRock Strategic Muni Opps Instl (MAMTX)
Follow This Fund
Best Performing in Muni National Long Over the Last Year
| 6.2% | Vanguard High-Yield Tax-Exempt Adm (VWALX) |
| 6.2% | Victory Tax Exempt Long-Term (USTEX) |
| 6.1% | Vanguard High-Yield Tax-Exempt (VWAHX) |
| 6.0% | Invesco Municipal Income Investor (VMINX) |
| 5.8% | Thrivent Municipal Bond S (TMBIX) |
Fund Details
BlackRock Strategic Muni Opps Instl Overview
BlackRock Strategic Muni Opps Instl (MAMTX) is an actively managed Municipal Bond Muni National Long fund. BlackRock launched the fund in 1988.
The investment seeks to provide shareholders with a high level of income exempt from Federal income taxes. Under normal circumstances, the fund will invest at least 80% of its assets in municipal bonds. Municipal bonds may be obligations of a variety of issuers including governmental entities or other qualifying issuers, the payments from which, in the opinion of bond counsel to the issuer, are excludable from gross income for Federal income tax purposes. The fund seeks to maintain an average portfolio duration of zero to ten years. It may invest up to 50% of its net assets in non-investment grade bonds.
About BlackRock Strategic Muni Opps Instl (MAMTX)
There are 5 members of the management team with an average tenure of 5.29 years: Phillip Soccio (2023), Sean Carney (2023), Kevin Maloney (2022), Ryan McDonald (2023), Michael Kalinoski (2014). Management tenure is more important for actively managed funds than passive index funds.
The fund has 4 primary benchmarks: Bloomberg Municipal TR USD index with a weighting of 100%, Bloomberg Municipal Taxable Bonds TR USD index with a weighting of 5%, Bloomberg HY Muni TR USD index with a weighting of 23% and Bloomberg Municipal TR USD index with a weighting of 72%. BlackRock Strategic Muni Opps Instl has 584 securities in its portfolio. The top 10 holdings constitute 11.0% of the fund’s assets. The fund meets the SEC requirement of being classified as a diversified fund. The fund is not considered to have an ESG focus with its investment selection and management.
BlackRock Strategic Muni Opps Instl is part of the Fixed Income global asset class and is within the Municipal Bond fund group. BlackRock Strategic Muni Opps Instl has 2.6% 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 95.4% (92.9% domestic bond, 2.6% foreign bond and 0.0% convertible bond). BlackRock Strategic Muni Opps Instl has 4.4% of the portfolio in cash.
Assets Under Management
The fund has $2 billion in total assets, which is above the $1 billion average for the Muni National Long 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.
MAMTX 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 BlackRock Strategic Muni Opps Instl expense ratio is above average compared to funds in the Muni National Long category. BlackRock Strategic Muni Opps Instl has an expense ratio of 0.76%, which is 3% lower than its category average, making the fund expense ratio grade a D. 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. BlackRock Strategic Muni Opps Instl has a portfolio turnover rate of 31%, indicating that holds its assets around 0.0 years. By way of comparison, the average portfolio turnover is 37% for the Muni National Long category.
Recently, in the month of August 2026, BlackRock Strategic Muni Opps Instl returned -0.4%, which earned it a grade of F, as the Muni National Long category had an average return of -0.3%. 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 funds in that category.
BlackRock Strategic Muni Opps Instl has a trailing yield of 4.05%, which is above the 3.75% 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.
BlackRock Strategic Muni Opps Instl Grades
Year to date, the fund has returned 0.8%, 0.3 percentage points better than the category, which translates into a grade of B. The fund has returned 4.6% over the past year (grade of D), 4.0% over the past three years (grade of B) and 0.1% per year over the past five years (grade of C) and 1.7% per year over the past 10 years (grade of C).
For more mutual fund grades, analysis and screening tools to help your investment discovery, join AAII for a $2, full-access trial. Learn more here: https://invest.aaii.com/membership.
Otherwise, for more information about BlackRock Strategic Muni Opps Instl, including its riskiness, submit your email to unlock the rest of the article.
Gain access to exclusive AAII member-only content.
MAMTX Trailing NAV Total Returns Data as of 8/31/26
| Last Month |
Last Quarter |
Ann'l. 1Yr |
Ann'l. 3Yr |
Ann'l. 5Yr |
Ann'l. 10Yr |
|
| MAMTX Return (NAV) | -0.4% | -1.0% | 4.6% | 4.0% | 0.1% | 1.7% |
| MAMTX Grade | F | B | D | B | C | C |
| +/- Category | -0.1% | 0.2% | -0.5% | 0.3% | 0.0% | -0.0% |
| Muni National Long Avg | -0.3% | -1.1% | 5.1% | 3.6% | 0.0% | 1.7% |
| MAMTX Tax Cost Ratio | na | na | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.1% |
MAMTX Annual NAV Total ReturnsData as of 8/31/26
| 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | |
| MAMTX Return (NAV) | 0.8% | 2.7% | 3.3% | 5.2% | -11.5% | 5.8% | 0.6% | 6.7% | 1.3% | 8.0% | 0.8% |
| MAMTX Grade | B | D | A | F | C | A | F | F | A | A | A |
| +/- Category | 0.3% | -0.3% | 0.8% | -1.7% | 0.1% | 3.0% | -4.2% | -1.4% | 0.5% | 2.2% | 0.6% |
| Muni National Long Avg | 0.6% | 3.0% | 2.5% | 6.8% | -11.6% | 2.8% | 4.8% | 8.1% | 0.7% | 5.8% | 0.2% |
| Risk Measures | |
| Standard Deviation: | 6.1% |
| Total Risk Index: | 0.50 - Below Average |
| Category Risk Index: | 0.94 - Below Average |
| Category Risk Grade: | B (37% Rank) |
| Beta: | 1.04 |
| R-Squared: | 94% |
| Leveraged Fund: | No |
| Inverse Fund: | No |
| Portfolio Characteristics | |
| Equity Investment Style: | na |
| Bond Investment Style: | na |
| Yield: | 4.1% |
| Dividend Distribution: | Monthly |
| Cap Gains Distribution: | Annually |
| Total Assets: | $3285 Mil |
| Fund Total Assets: | $2,729 Mil |
| Share Class Type: | Inst |
| Portfolio Turnover: | 31% |
Management Team
| Number of Managers: 5 | |||
| Longest Tenure: 12.6 years | |||
| Average Tenure: 5.3 years | |||
| Managers (Year): Kalinoski Michael (2014), Maloney Kevin (2022), McDonald Ryan (2023), Soccio Phillip (2023), Carney Sean (2023) | |||
Portfolio Composition (as of 7/31/26)
| # of Holdings: | 584 |
| % in Top 10 Holdings: | 11.0% |
| Fund is Non-Diversified: | No |
| % in Foreign Issues: | 2.6% |
Portfolio Allocation |
|
| Domestic Stock: | 0.0% |
| Foreign Stock: | 0.0% |
| Preferred Stock: | 0.0% |
| Domestic Bond: | 92.9% |
| Foreign Bond: | 2.6% |
| Convertible Bond: | 0.0% |
| Other: | 0.1% |
| Cash: | 4.4% |
Purchase Information
| Fund Family: | BlackRock |
| Phone Number: | 800-441-7762 |
| Website: | www.blackrock.com |
| Status: | Open |
| Inception Date: | October 31, 1988 |
| Min. Initial Purchase: | $2,000,000 |
| Min. Initial IRA Purchase: | $ 0 |
| True No-Load: | Yes |
| Front Load Maximum: | 0.00% |
| Deferred Charge Maximum: | 0.00% |
| Redemption Charge Maximum: | 0.00% |
| 12b-1 Fee: | na |
Expenses and Fees | |
| Expense Ratio (%): | 0.76% ( Rating : Above Avg ) |
| Category Average Expense Ratio (%): | 0.79% |
| Share Class: | BlackRock Strategic Muni Opps Instl |
| Min. Subsequent Purchase: | $ 0 |
| Min. Subsequent IRA Purchase: | $ 0 |
