A major story in bond ETFs is the rapid growth of PIMCO Total Return ETF (NYSEArca: BOND), which was launched in March and is managed by Bill Gross. The ETF is outperforming its mutual fund counterpart. [Evaluating PIMCO Total Return ETF Performance, Liquidity]
BOND has already gathered total assets of about $720 million.
“Just five years ago, many doubted that fixed-income would work in the ETF structure. Just four months ago, many still doubted whether actively managed ETFs would work. PIMCO Total Return ETF is discrediting both myths simultaneously,” Morningstar notes. “The fund is already the third-largest actively managed ETF. BOND was the best-performing intermediate-bond fund in any packaging in April.”
Finally, a desire for income and dividends has made real estate ETFs popular with investors recently. [Best REIT ETFs for Dividends]
“Real estate is back in favor. REIT ETFs gathered $794 million in April, marking the sixth straight month of category inflows. Vanguard was again the winner, with Vanguard REIT Index (NYSEArca: VNQ) gathering $536 million,” Morningstar said.