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Bull vs. Bear is a weekly feature where the VettaFi writers' room takes opposite sides to debate controversial stocks, strategies, or market ideas — with plenty of discussion of ETF ideas to play either angle. For this edition of Bull vs.
Bonds have been the hottest ETF asset class in 2023. So far, we passed the $2 trillion mark and punched well above our normal weight in the U.S. with $110 billion of net inflows in 2023.
For nearly 75 years, Franklin Income, the mutual fund, has helped advisors and end clients. Through bull, bear, and even boring markets, the $70 billion portfolio provided uninterrupted income from equity and fixed income securities.
Recent uncertainty, instigated by the issues seen across the financial sector, has led to a change in investment flows seen across exchange traded funds. A change in investment flows can be seen over the month of March as equity market volatility has increased.
Franklin Templeton has been building out its ETF lineup through product development, mutual fund conversions, and acquisitions. While it had $10 billion in U.S.-listed ETF assets at the end of November, aided by $1 billion of net inflows, the firm has ambitions of being a much larger player in the space.
This week's FTX news is just the latest part of a wild and volatile year in finance, from geopolitical strife to inflation and interest rate pressure on markets, not to mention how much the 60/40 portfolio has struggled.
Among fixed income assets, high yield corporate bonds are often considered to be reliable indicators of economic strength or weakness. With that notion in mind, the Franklin High Yield Corporate ETF (FLHY) could be a relevant near-term idea for income-hungry investors.
Franklin Templeton is further cementing its status as a rising player in the exchange traded funds industry by announcing that it's changing the names of more than a dozen of its ETFs and swapping underlying indexes on several others. Those changes went into effect on August 1.