To this point in 2015, the number of new exchange traded funds is approaching 90, which says this will be a strong year for ETF launches though perhaps off last year’s pace.
Among this year’s new ETFs that have been rapidly embraced by investors is the SPDR DoubleLine Total Return Tactical ETF (NYSEArca: TOTL), an actively managed TOTL represents bond king Jeff Gundlach’s initial ETF foray.
TOTL, which launched in February had nearly $510 million in assets under management as of May 12, according to State Street data. State Street’s (NYSE: STT) State Global Advisors (SSgA), third-largest U.S. ETF sponsor, is DoubleLine’s partner on TOTL. With its recent growth spurt, TOTL is one of the largest actively managed ETFs trading in the U.S.
“Since its launch in late February through May 12, the SPDR DoubleLine ETF has returned 0.04 percent while the Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index has returned negative 0.83 percent,” reports Jennifer Ablan for Reuters. “Intermediate-term bond funds like DoubleLine ETF have faced a challenging bond market. The 10-year Treasury yield has swung 42 basis points from the timeframe low of 1.858 percent on April 1 to the high of 2.281 percent on May 11.”
“TOTL serves up a core fixed-income strategy and seeks to outperform the Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index. At 0.55%, the ETF offers a less expensive way to benefit from Gundlach’s acumen than the 0.73% price tag for the retail share class of his DoubleLine Total Return Fund (DLTNX),” according to Morningstar. [Gundlach’s new Bond ETF]
TOTL currently holds 294 bonds and has a modified adjusted duration of 3.76 years, according to SSgA data. The asset-gathering success of Gundlach’s first ETF stands in stark contrast to recent goings on in the fixed income ETF space. Since the start of May, investors have pulled over $2 billion combined from the iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF (NYSEArca: HYG) and the iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (NYSEArca: TLT) as Treasury yields have jumped.