FLXR presents itself as an actively managed ETF with a high Sharpe ratio, competitive in terms of historical returns and volatility. Its distinctive feature is a greater participation in the securitized asset segment, especially through MBS, ABS, and CMBS. What struck me is the almost counter-cyclical opportunistic management that minimized the impact of the (albeit minor) credit shock in April 2025.
Current macro conditions favor short-term, high-quality bond funds. FLXR is one such ETF. It boasts a diversified, well-balanced portfolio with a focus on high-quality MBS, delivering above-average risk-adjusted returns and low volatility. It has outperformed most of its peers since its listing too, including those targeting a similar market niche with similar characteristics and investment thesis.
FLXR, originally a mutual fund, successfully converted to an ETF in June 2024, leading to a significant four-fold increase in AUM to nearly $1.4 billion. The fund is actively managed, allowing it to dynamically allocate across diverse fixed income sectors (including a current overweight in MBS), credit qualities, and maturities both domestically and globally. FLXR has consistently outperformed a cohort of multi-sector bond ETF peers over the past three years, with a 1-year total return exceeding 9.5%, while demonstrating relatively controlled drawdowns.
On this week's episode of ETF Prime, Kirsten Chang, senior industry analyst at VettaFi, joins host Nate Geraci to provide a comprehensive overview of current trends and investor sentiment in the fixed income ETF space. Later, Tidal's Mike Venuto highlights the latest developments in ETF innovation.
Diversification across asset classes is prudent in today's uncertain economic environment. FLXR can be a strong core bond holding in passive buy-and-hold portfolios. FLXR outperforms passive bond ETFs like AGG and BND due to the nature of bond indices weighting allocations by issuance rather than quality. FLXR's different allocations, particularly an increase in mortgage-backed securities and a decrease in U.S. treasury assets have lowered volatility and offered better returns compared to other active bond funds.
Jeffrey Katz, TCW managing director, and Alex Morris, F/m Investments CEO, talk with CNBC's Bob Pisani on 'ETF Edge' to debate if bond are still a safe haven amid heighted concerns about inflation and tariffs.
On Monday, The TCW Group continued to expand its ETF library with the firm's third mutual fund to ETF conversion. With the conversion complete, the MetWest Flexible Income Fund (MWFEX) has been converted into the TCW Flexible Income ETF (FLXR).