Daily ETF Watch: Unconstrained Bond Fund

Virtus ETF Solutions today rolled out the Virtus Newfleet Multi-Sector Unconstrained Bond ETF (NFLT); the new product is the second unconstrained bond fund to launch. In June, WisdomTree unveiled its WisdomTree Western Asset Unconstrained Bond Fund (UBND), which was the first fund of its kind.

The Virtus product will use a sector-rotation strategy that can basically reach into whatever corner of the fixed-income market that it chooses, regardless of denomination, credit quality, issuer or type of security.

The subadvisor will use a risk/reward analysis to select securities it believes will outperform in terms of returns and income.

Virtus ETF Advisers is the fund’s advisor, while Newfleet Asset Management is the fund’s subadvisor.

NFLT comes with an expense ratio of 0.80 percent. That’s 25 basis points more than what UBND charges.

iShares Plans More Hedged Funds

A recent set of filings from iShares indicates the ETF provider plans to expand its lineup of currency-hedged funds by five. Four of the filings cover hedged versions of some of the iShares minimum-volatility ETFs.

The cap-weighted currency-hedged ETF filing outlines plans for the iShares Currency Hedged MSCI Europe Small-Cap ETF, which is the hedged version of the $52 million iShares MSCI Europe Small-Cap ETF (IEUS | C-100).

The hedged minimum-volatility funds combine two trends that iShares has been in the thick of and include the following:

• iShares Currency Hedged MSCI EAFE Minimum Volatility ETF, the hedged version of the $3 billion iShares MSCI EAFE Minimum Volatility ETF (EFAV | A-60)
• iShares Currency Hedged MSCI EM Minimum Volatility ETF, the hedged version of the $2.6 billion iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Minimum Volatility ETF (EEMV | B-63)
• iShares Currency Hedged MSCI ACWI Minimum Volatility ETF, the hedged version of the $2.2 billion iShares MSCI All Country World Minimum Volatility ETF (ACWV | A-58)
• iShares Currency Hedged MSCI Europe Minimum Volatility ETF, the hedged version of the $16 million iShares MSCI Europe Minimum Volatility ETF (EUMV | B-73)

iShares already has a family of 16 currency-hedged equity ETFs.

None of the five filings included tickers or expense ratios.

Contact Heather Bell at [email protected].