SS&C ALPS Advisors rolled out a new fixed income ETF today. The new strategy joins an existing suite of ETFs ranging from dividend-focused funds in the “Dogs” suite to its $7.5 billion AUM fund, the Alerian MLP ETF (AMLP). The new core plus bond ETF, the ALPS Smith Core Plus bond ETF (SMTH), becomes just the third fixed-income-specific ETF in the firm’s suite, per VettaFi data.
The strategy becomes the fifth at SS&C ALPS Advisors to be subadvised by Smith Capital LLC. The other four include a varied set of bond offerings, such as the ALPS Smith Total Return Bond Fund (SMTHX). The move represents the first collaboration between SS&C ALPS Advisors and Smith Capital in the former’s ETF suite, as such.
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The ETF invests at least 80% of its net assets in bonds. Those bonds include, but are not limited to, government debt offerings, corporate bonds, commercial and residential mortgage-backed securities.
With its active approach, it targets a weighted average effective duration within 40% of the current effective duration of the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index, per SMTH’s prospectus. The core plus bond ETF can also invest in commercial loans, money market instruments, foreign debt securities, and so-called junk bonds.
That active approach for the core plus bond ETF comes in a big year for active strategies. According to VettaFi’s Head of Research Todd Rosenbluth, that turn to active includes investors as well as advisors.
“Advisor have turned to active fixed income ETFs in 2023,” he said. “It’s great to have more choices for them to consider given the shifting rate landscape.“
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