We keep a close eye on actively managed ETFs in both the equity and fixed income spectrums, particularly when products register all-time highs because that obviously means something is working in the investment manager’s approach.
BOND (PIMCO Total Return ETF, Expense Ratio 0.55%) was approaching fresh new all-time high yesterday on heavy trading volume before regressing a bit this morning.
The fund, which debuted in March of 2012 has grown to a $3.3 billion name in terms of its asset size, still has seen net outflows year to date ($>-240 million) despite the recent positive run in performance.
How is this “Total Bond Market” ETF positioned in terms of its exposure at the moment? We see the largest fund position in U.S. Treasury TIPS (9.27% of portfolio), with other top end positions in local authority bonds
from the Province of Ontario, U.S. Agency debentures, U.S. Treasury notes, and Italian issued government bonds.
BOND happens to be PIMCO’s third largest fund in terms of products listed in the U.S. ETF marketplace, behind HYS (PIMCO 0-5 Year U.S. High Yield Corporate Bond, Expense Ratio 0.55%) and MINT (PIMCO Enhanced Short Maturity, Expense Ratio 0.35%) which have impressively raised $4.9 billion and $3.9 billion respectively since their inceptions.
BOND has impressively out-performed its benchmark index, the Barclays U.S. Aggregate Index since its inception, and it still leading its benchmark on a year to date basis as well currently.
Yield comes in a bit lower than the benchmark index and related ETFs, at 1.88% versus say AGG (iShares Core Total U.S. Bond Market, Expense Ratio 0.08%) yield of 2.22%.