“The popularity of those ETFs is part of a broad reach for yield and a willingness to move into riskier assets to get it,” said iShares managing director Matt Tucker in the Reuters story. “It also reflects a belief that the U.S. economy is growing at a fast enough pace for companies to be able to service their debt.”
Also, some advisors are using bond ETFs with shorter maturities to play defense against the risk of rising rates.
“The short-term ETFs allow me to tailor the yield curve on my bond investments and reduce risk,” said John Largent, chief investment strategist at Members Trust.
SPDR Barclays High Yield Bond