The Future of Core Bonds with BlackRock’s Steve Laipply

This week’s episode of Behind the Ticker features host Brad Roth, CIO of Thor Financial Technologies, talking with Steve Laipply, Managing Director, Global Co-Head of iShares Fixed Income ETFs at BlackRock, about the iShares Total USD Fixed Income Market ETF (BTOT). Don’t miss the conversation about how modern fixed income investing needs have grown beyond the Agg and how BlackRock’s BTOT provides one solution for today’s bond investors. 

You can also listen to this episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or any of your preferred streaming platforms. If you would like to watch the video version of this conversation, you can find that here. 

Topics Covered

• The Evolution of Core Fixed Income: Laipply introduces BTOT as the single-ticker solution for owning the modern breadth of te bond market, expanding a universe that traditional indices like the Bloomberg US Agg left incomplete. By integrating previously siloed sectors like high yield, bank loans, and TIPS, it yields roughly 4.57% with 30 basis points of outperformance and less duration risk than the Agg.
• ETF Price Discovery in Market Crises: Based on his research from the liquidity crunch of spring 2020, Laipply explains that bond ETFs act as leading indicators rather than tracking anomalies during times of market stress. Because vehicles like LQD trade up to 100,000 times a day while underlying OTC bonds barely move, the ETF wrapper provides vital, real-time price discovery that the traditional market cannot replicate.
• Navigating the Cash and Duration Debate: Addressing the common advisor dilemma of competing with high-yielding money market funds, Laipply cautions against the losing game of trying to perfectly time interest rate peaks. Instead, he advocates a practical, dual-allocation strategy of holding necessary cash while systematically legging into core fixed income to lock in yields before the market turns.
• A Modern Portfolio Blueprint: Laipply frames BTOT as a scalable, diversified core anchor holding a range of fixed income securities that frees up advisor bandwidth to focus on active strategies or alternative investments. He positions this index exposure as a natural complement to active funds, proving that a balanced fixed-income sleeve should rely on both components rather than an either/or choice.

Disclaimer: The market insights, projections, and investment strategies expressed in this article are solely those of the contributor and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of ETF.com. This content is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, investment, or legal advice.