Last week, the iShares Flexible Income Active ETF (BINC) reached a significant milestone and became the latest member of the $10 billion of the active fixed income club. The exclusive club now has six members, fewer than half the number of active equity ETF members. However, BINC stands out from other popular active fixed income ETFs.
Rise of Active Fixed Income ETFs
Actively managed ETFs have swelled in popularity in 2025. Industrywide, more than $200 billion flowed in during the first half of 2025, equal to 37% of the net inflows.
The JPMorgan Ultra-Short Income ETF (JPST) is the largest active fixed income ETF, with $32 billion. The fund takes on limited interest rate risk with an average duration of 0.75 years. Yet JPST still sports a 4.3% 30-day SEC yield by owning investment-grade corporate bonds, asset-backed securities, and commercial paper.
Demand for actively managed ultra-short fixed income ETFs has been robust as investors seek relative safety combined with professional expertise. Other popular ETFs in this space are the PIMCO Enhanced Short Maturity Active ETF (MINT) and the PGIM Ultra Short Bond ETF (PULS). MINT and PULS have $13 billion and $12 billion in assets, respectively.
A fourth member of the $10 billion active ETF club has also benefited from demand for high quality, less rate- sensitive bond exposure. The Janus Henderson AAA CLO ETF (JAAA) has $22 billion in assets, aided by $5.5 billion of net inflows thus far in 2025. While CLOs have a floating rate structure that makes it largely immune to rate movements, JAAA sports a 5.3% yield.
FBND: Actively Sitting at the Core
JAAA and the three sector-diversified ultra-short fixed income active ETFs provide targeted exposure for conservative investors. However, we think the portfolio use cases are different from the ones for BINC and the Fidelity Total Bond ETF (FBND). FBND manages just under $20 billion, aided by $2.2 billion since the start of 2025. Fidelity has been building out its active ETF lineup, but FBND has sat at the core for many client portfolios for more than a decade.
The previously mentioned active ETFs are all part of Morningstar’s ultra-short bond category. In contrast, FBND is an intermediate core-plus bond ETF that supports a larger position in a client’s portfolio. The Fidelity fund has a 4.9% 30-day SEC yield and has an average duration of 6.0 years.
The fund is composed mostly of investment-grade bonds (84% of assets) with modest high-yield corporate bonds and emerging market exposure. Relative to the Bloomberg US Aggregate Bond index, FBND was underexposed to U.S. government bonds and overweighted to corporate bonds and asset-backed securities.
BINC: High Yield, Fast Growth
BINC is a multisector bond fund with a higher 6.4% yield due to its increased credit risk. High yield bonds and loans (38% of assets) and securitized products (35%) like commercial mortgage back securities and CLOs make up close to three-quarters of the portfolio. BINC has an average rating of BBB+.
Besides its diverse exposure, BINC is different from its $10 billion fund peers due to its young age. Launched in May 2023, BINC has quickly swelled in size. After a strong 2024, BINC has $3 billion of net inflows thus far in 2025 to join the exclusive club.
It is exciting to see funds like BINC and FBND gain traction to sit in more of the core of the portfolio. We expect to see other ETFs join the ranks of active fixed income ETFs with over $10 billion in the coming years.
Originally published at Advisor Perspectives
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