First Trust New York Municipal High Income ETF

First Trust New York Municipal High Income ETF (FMNY) is an actively managed bond fund. It buys New York municipal bonds whose interest is generally exempt from federal, New York State and New York City income taxes. Up to half its assets can be in below-investment-grade ("high yield") bonds, which raises both income and risk. Its 0.65% annual fee is more than twice the 0.29% average of similar municipal ETFs.

• Over the year to Oct 27, 2026, FMNY returned -0.6%, 6th of 8 among similar funds.
• Its 5-year annualized return was +0.3%.
• Its worst full calendar year was 2022 (-10.6%); its best was 2023 (+6.3%).
• The deepest fall in its price history was 15.8% (Jul 19, 2021 to Oct 26, 2022), recovered by Oct 28, 2025.

As of Jul 31, 2026, the fund held 110 securities; the ten largest made up 20.26% of assets.

The bonds mature in 16.8 years on average (weighted by size), with an average coupon of 4.81%.

• Over the three months to Jul 31, 2026, investors added a net $1.3M (creations minus redemptions, per the N-PORT report).
• Monthly total returns reported for that quarter: +0.46%, +0.91%, -1.96%.

FMNY does not track an index. Instead, First Trust's managers choose the bonds. At least 80% of net assets go into municipal bonds, which are debts issued by states, cities and public agencies. The interest on these bonds must be exempt from regular federal income tax and from New York State and New York City income taxes. Issuers can be New York and its local authorities, or U.S. territories such as Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Guam. Up to 100% of the fund may hold bonds whose interest counts toward the federal alternative minimum tax (AMT).

Credit rules shape the mix. At least 50% must be investment grade, meaning rated BBB-/Baa3 or higher, or unrated but judged comparable by the advisor. Up to 50% can be high yield, or "junk," bonds, and up to 10% can be bonds already in default. The managers aim for an effective duration of roughly 3 to 9 years. Duration is a gauge of how much a bond's price reacts to interest-rate changes. The fund is non-diversified and may use futures, though it held no derivatives as of July 31, 2026.

On that date it held 110 bonds, and the 10 largest made up 20% of assets. The two biggest were New York State Dormitory Authority bonds due 2039 (2.9%) and Rensselaer County bonds due 2045 (2.8%). The fund often redeems shares for cash, so it may pay out more taxable capital gains than ETFs that trade in kind.

• FMNY charges 0.65% a year, versus an average of 0.29% for the similar funds below (7th of 8, cheapest first).

Its main job is monthly income that is largely tax-exempt for New York residents, with more credit risk than a typical municipal fund.

FMNY could add tax-exempt monthly income for New York residents. Its trailing 12-month yield was 4.18% as of October 27, 2026. The trade-offs are risk and cost. The fund launched in May 2021, so it has no record from the 2008 or 2020 crashes. It lost 11.00% in 2022, according to its prospectus. Its deepest drop was 15.8%, from July 2021 to October 2022, and it took about 36 months to recover, until October 2025. Anyone who had to sell in late 2022 would have locked in much of that loss. Its volatility over the past year was a modest 4.2%. But its high-yield bonds can fall harder when credit worries rise. Its 0.65% fee is more than twice the 0.29% peer average and eats into the yield. Past results don't predict the future, and any plan should look at the whole portfolio, not one fund.

Matched by bond funds with the closest average maturity and issuer mix (N-PORT).