Perhaps it is a victory for exchange traded fund liquidity or maybe it is because investors are not fretting over news reports revealing an investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission into pricing practices at the PIMCO Total Return ETF (NYSEArca: BOND), but the ETF version of the storied Total Return mutual fund is behaving as expected during Wednesday’s trading session.
Yes, BOND, the second-largest U.S. actively managed ETF behind its family member, the PIMCO Enhanced Short Maturity ETF (NYSEArca: MINT), is trading modestly lower today on volume that has already eclipsed the daily average, but beyond the volume factor, nothing appears to be out of the ordinary.
Late Tuesday, the Wall Street Journal reported the SEC is probing PIMCO regarding pricing issues at BOND that potentially could have inflated returns advertised to prospective investors. However, the Journal also acknowledged “It isn’t clear any of the actions by Pimco that are being examined are improper. It can be difficult to ascertain proper valuations in the debt markets, especially for bonds that are relatively small in dollar terms or don’t trade frequently.”
With that BOND is down is down a mere 17 cents, or 0.15%, residing just 0.6% below its all-time high.
“As far as the question or notion that we may see some trading that looks out of the ordinary in BOND given the headlines regarding the SEC probe, we wouldn’t expect to see anything, given the nature of the fund and the management philosophy, given what it sets out to do and via what it typically owns and buys,” said Street One Financial Vice President Paul Weisbruch in an email exchange with ETF Trends. “ In fact, the intraday trading range today is quite tight, in line with other fixed income markets on the whole today, although volume has ticked up a bit in relation to yesterday and the daily average.”
It remains to be seen what comes of the SEC probe, though these investigations, which are usually kept private, are frequent across the fund industry. After all, it is the SEC’s job to police the investment products marketplace.
Of course, BOND, also known as the “Bill Gross ETF,” makes for compelling headlines. It is the ETF that cemented PIMCO’s status as legitimate force in the ETF industry and is seen by some industry observers as the template for success among the still nascent actively managed ETF space. [Big Growth Seen for Active ETFs]
Not only that, but BOND has made a habit of outperforming its mutual fund father and rival passively managed bond ETFs since coming to market two and a half years ago. [Bill Gross ETF Beats Mutual Fund Father]
“We have covered BOND actively in our periodic recaps since 2012, as active management and fixed income seems to be well received in general in the ETF space when it comes to asset gathering, both on a retail and institutional level. BOND is not the only success story, but perhaps the most important mover in the space because this is after all, a mutual fund giant, PIMCO,” adds Weisbruch.
PIMCO Total Return ETF
