Avantis Short-Term Fixed Income ETF

AVSF

Market cap $665M

Short-term investment-grade bond strategies, with durations in the two-to-three-year range, are well positioned to capture a meaningful yield advantage without the rate sensitivity that has challenged longer duration strategies in recent months. The yield to worst on a diversified short-term bond portfolio currently sits between 4.5% and 5.0%, more than 100 basis points above what bank savings accounts and government money market funds are currently yielding. Although the path for rates is highly uncertain, the range of outcomes in which short-term bonds outperform cash is considerably wider than the range in which they don't.

2025 is fully in gear, and with it, investors may be looking at refreshing their fixed income portfolios. What's more, with the Fed pausing rate cuts for now, many investors may want to adjust for a year of mostly steady rates.

The Federal Reserve keeping rates steady could be the proverbial calm before the storm of interest rate volatility. That said, fixed income investors can mitigate volatility while still capturing yield in the current rate environment with a pair of active, short-term bond ETFs.