ETF Watch: First Trust Plans Go-Anywhere Bond Fund

First Trust recently filed for an actively managed fixed-income ETF that will be able to invest in a wide range of fixed-income securities of any credit quality. The First Trust TCW Opportunistic Fixed Income ETF (FIXD) will launch on the Nasdaq and will be subadvised by TCW Investment Management.

FIXD’s strategy will involve focusing on the portions of the fixed-income market that TCW believes to be undervalued. According to the prospectus, there is no target maturity, but the fund will seek to maintain an average portfolio duration that falls within one year of the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Index’s duration.  

Essentially, the ETF can invest in whatever part of the fixed-income market its managers see fit.

TCW, known for its fixed-income expertise, is not new to ETFs. In 2014, it managed four emerging market bond funds for Emerging Global Advisors, but the products closed within less than a year.

The filing did not include an expense ratio.

Contact Heather Bell at [email protected].