At the beginning of this year,
“The income space is ripe for ETF innovation,” said P. Michael Jones, chief investment officer at
With the market now flooded with niche equity ETFs, firms are now looking to fixed income for fresh ideas. Scott Ebner, senior vice president of the
As to why bond ETFs are so late to the table, one reason, certainly, is that the SEC exemptive relief process can take up to several years. A second is the sheer complexity of bond ETFs; due to maturing bonds, they must continually be replaced.
Nonetheless, with Bear Stearns and Ameristock coming to the marketplace this year, Anthony Rochte, senior managing director of State Street Global Advisors believes that will prompt the SEC to speed up its approval process and competitors to come out with innovative products.
“The core building blocks of fixed income are now in place,” Rochte said.