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Pimco Adds Short-Term To Active Muni ETF Roster
By Cinthia Murphy | February 04, 2010 8:37 am

Related ETFs: MINT / MUNI


 

Pimco continued to increase its footprint in the actively managed ETF space with the launch of another fixed-income fund.

The Pimco Short Term Municipal Bond Strategy (NYSEArca: SMMU) adds another wrinkle to the company’s lineup covering the municipal yield curve. SMMU comes on the heels of Pimco’s midterm fund, the Pimco Intermediate Municipal Bond Strategy Fund (NYSEArca: MUNI), launched in December.

Pimco hopes that an active strategy will do two things for its muni funds: secure better pricing in the otherwise illiquid muni bond market as compared withother index-based vehicles, as well as make up for the higher price tag these ETFs bring with them. Like MUNI, SMMU will cost investors 35 basis points, which is among the priciest expense ratios out there for ETFs in this asset class.

SMMU will invest in AMT-free muni bonds of short-term maturity. The initial portfolio consists of 31 issues.

The growing roster of bond ETFs underscores Pimco’s positive view of the bond market moving forward. In an interview with Barron’s magazine back in December, Pimco’s managing director and head of global portfolio management Scott Mather argued that while concerns lurk in the background surrounding inflation and credit, we are in a generally positive environment for bonds.

“In general, an environment of low real growth and low inflation is a bond-friendly backdrop for much of the world,” Mather said in that interview. According to Mather, the company believes in an outlook for an increasing risk of disinflation and deflation rather than a return to hyperinflation ahead, a scenario that would be generally positive for bonds.

Pimco’s active take on the bond market now includes three ETFs: SMMU, MUNI—which has an average maturity of just under seven years in a portfolio comprising 49 bonds—and the Pimco Enhanced Short Maturity Strategy Fund (NYSEArca: MINT), which debuted in November.

Pimco also manages a roster of index-based fixed-income ETFs.

 

 

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