American Funds Short-Term Tax-Exempt Bond Fund
Actively managed U.S. bond fund
As of its 2026 Q2 report, American Funds Short-Term Tax-Exempt Bond Fund held 1,241 positions with $2.30B in net assets. Its ten largest holdings made up 6.4% of the fund. The ASTEX share class costs 0.43% a year. Over the 12 months to May 2026, ASTEX returned 3.9%, with dividends reinvested. In 2026 Q3 it added 129 new positions and exited 114.
The funds investment objective is to provide you with current income exempt from regular federal income tax, consistent with the maturity and quality standards described in this prospectus, and to preserve capital.
The fund invests primarily in municipal bonds rated AA- or better, or A- or better, with a dollar-weighted average maturity not exceeding three years, seeking attractively priced securities that offer good long-term value. Up to 20% of assets may be held in private activity bonds subject to the federal alternative minimum tax. The fund employs multiple portfolio managers, each overseeing distinct portfolio segments. Because security selection depends on the investment adviser's judgment of relative value, fund performance will diverge from any benchmark reflecting the broader municipal bond market.
What you own
| Company | Weight | Value | Shares |
|---|---|---|---|
PEFA INC 5.00% · due 2049-09-01 | 0.80% | $18.45M | — |
PENNSYLVANIA ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT FINANCING AUTHORITY 4.60% · due 2046-10-01 | 0.76% | $17.54M | — |
STATE OF OHIO 5.00% · due 2029-01-01 | 0.75% | $17.16M | — |
UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON 5.00% · due 2032-02-15 | 0.73% | $16.76M | — |
CALIFORNIA STATEWIDE CMNTYS DEV AUTH 5.00% · due 2028-10-01 | 0.71% | $16.27M | — |
BLACK BELT ENERGY GAS DIST 4.00% · due 2052-10-01 | 0.59% | $13.56M | — |
TRIBOROUGH BRIDGE & TUNNEL AUTHORITY 5.00% · due 2028-02-01 | 0.56% | $12.97M | — |
ARIZONA INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY 5.00% · due 2058-11-01 | 0.55% | $12.59M | — |
MISSION ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORP 4.25% · due 2048-06-01 | 0.50% | $11.43M | — |
SOUTHEAST ENERGY AUTHORITY AL 5.00% · due 2055-05-01 | 0.47% | $10.73M | — |
The 200 largest of 1,241 holdings, with the share counts as filed, open with a free account.
What the fund is made of
Percentages are of fund net assets. Rounding, liabilities and short positions can make totals differ from 100%.
| Bonds | 99.53% |
| Derivatives | -0.01% |
The outer band is exposure held short — written against the portfolio rather than part of it, which is why it sits outside the ring and why the two are never netted into one figure.
Derivatives are shown at market value, not notional exposure.
How it has done
ASTEX share class · total returns with dividends reinvested
Volatility over the last 12 months: 1.58%. Past returns are a record, not a forecast.
Jun 2026 and Jul 2026 have been filed since the trailing figures were struck, so they are not in the table above or the curve — every figure here shares one cut-off, which is what makes them comparable with other funds.
The 6 share classes hold the same portfolio
| Share class | Expense ratio | 1 year | 3 years | 5 years | Worst fall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.43% | +3.91% | +11.14% | +7.83% | -1.25% | |
| 0.62% | +3.72% | +10.51% | +6.82% | -1.30% | |
| 0.31% | +4.04% | +11.54% | +8.46% | -1.23% | |
| 0.24% | +4.11% | +11.78% | +8.85% | -1.22% | |
| 0.24% | +4.11% | +11.78% | +8.85% | -1.22% | |
| 0.53% | +4.07% | +11.66% | +8.70% | -1.22% |
These classes hold the same portfolio, so the 2.04pp spread over 5 years is the cost difference between them — roughly 0.41pp a year — not a difference in what they own.
Fees & fund details
American Funds Short-Term Tax-Exempt Bond Fund is an actively managed U.S. bond fund.
- Asset class
- Bonds
- Region
- United States
- Management
- Actively managed
- Fund type
- Open-end fund
- Credit quality
- Investment grade
- Rate sensitivity
- Short duration
- Expense ratio, by class
- 0.24% – 0.62%· ASTEX 0.43%
- Portfolio turnover
- 56.00% a year · as of 2025 Q3
Net is what a holder pays after the adviser's contractual waiver; gross is before it. A waiver can expire.
Turnover is how much of the portfolio was replaced in a year.
Classified from what the fund holds, not from its name · 2026 Q2. The summary is a paraphrase of the prospectus; the objective is verbatim.
What changed this quarter
Positions that entered or left the fund since its previous filing. Positions that were only resized are not listed.
129 new· the largest 7
114 exited· the largest 8
Debt profile
What this fund holds — value-weighted across its bond and securitized long positions · as of 2026-04-30
Share of the fund's debt by how its coupon behaves — the fact that decides whether a rate move reaches this portfolio at all.
| Fixed rate | 96.5% |
| Floating rate | 3.5% |
Share of the fund's debt value in each maturity band, shortest first.
| <1y | 9.0% |
| 1-3y | 20.7% |
| 3-5y | 13.4% |
| 5-10y | 14.0% |
| 10y+ | 43.0% |
Based on what filers reported; a filer that never reported a flag also reads as none.
Risk profile
Interest-rate and credit-spread sensitivity, both in years · as of 2026Q2
More of this fund’s sensitivity sits in credit spreads than in interest rates — a rate rally that comes with a credit selloff works against it.
Where the loss would come from. The two shocks are the same size, so this is the balance of the fund's two sensitivities rather than a bet on one moving more.
| Credit spreads | 55% |
| Interest rates | 45% |
Filers report the impact of a 0.01% move only, so the total is our own scaling of that one number and overstates the loss on most bonds — read it as approximate, never as precise. The two sensitivities overlap rather than add up: they measure the same positions against different shocks, which is why the durations above are shown side by side and never summed.
Share of the fund's spread duration carried by each credit tier.
| Investment grade | +3.08 yr |
| High yield | +0.03 yr |
Share of duration at each point, shortest first. A positive figure loses value when spreads widen; a negative one offsets — a credit hedge.
| 3 mo | 0.08 yr | 3% |
| 1 yr | 0.56 yr | 22% |
| 5 yr | 1.08 yr | 42% |
| 10 yr | 0.63 yr | 24% |
| 30 yr | 0.21 yr | 8% |
| 3 mo | 0.06 yr | 2% |
| 1 yr | 0.70 yr | 23% |
| 5 yr | 1.38 yr | 45% |
| 10 yr | 0.76 yr | 24% |
| 30 yr | 0.21 yr | 7% |
The two bands measure the same positions against different shocks and do not add — a Treasury carries rate duration and no spread duration, a floating-rate credit the reverse. Rate tenors are also summed across every currency the fund discloses.
Show the numbers
| Tenor | Rate yrs | IG yrs | HY yrs | IG $/bp | HY $/bp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 mo | +0.08 | +0.05 | +0.00 | $12.4k | $452 |
| 1 yr | +0.56 | +0.69 | +0.01 | $159.3k | $2.3k |
| 5 yr | +1.08 | +1.37 | +0.01 | $315.5k | $2.8k |
| 10 yr | +0.63 | +0.75 | +0.01 | $173.5k | $1.2k |
| 30 yr | +0.21 | +0.21 | +0.00 | $47.3k | $199 |
Dollar change per 1bp of spread movement, as filed and sign-anchored. A blank cell was not filed; a zero was.
A newer credit-spread reading (2026Q3) is on file. This page holds one quarter across every figure on it, so that one appears here next quarter.
Understand how this fund fits with the rest.
Explore shared holdings, compare funds and follow their businesses with your connected AI:
- “Where do my funds overlap — ASTEX, QQQ and the fund in my 401(k)?”
- “How do this fund’s ten biggest holdings stack up against each other?”
- “For my target-date fund, what’s the real stock-and-bond mix once you look through it?”