BlackRock Flexible Income ETF

BINC

Market cap $17.2B

The opening act of 2026 has been nothing short of historic for the ETF industry, and fixed income is experiencing one of the strongest starts to a year on record.

Todd Rosenbluth, head of research at VettaFi, joined Nate Geraci on this week's ETF Prime to discuss five emerging flow trends as the ETF industry tracks toward $1.8 trillion in inflows for 2026. The industry pulled in roughly $150 billion in January, building on the record $1.5 trillion gathered in 2025.

Passive, active, Treasuries, corporates, munis, international, and more — the whole spectrum of fixed income ETFs seemed to come off a strong year in 2025. The year was also marked by a bevy of launches.

After a record $1.5 trillion year for the ETF industry in 2025, demand has not slowed down in January. Indeed, as of January 21, ETFs had already gathered $103 billion of new money.

In my equity watchlist there will not be only the USA, I will closely follow global markets, especially factor strategies. In the bond segment, I really appreciate active management; I think passive ones will remain poorly able to capture the evolutions of 2026. Among the segments with alpha potential, I identify the small cap value segment due to lower valuations and better earnings expectations.

It should go without saying that investors who have been chasing income have had something of an unusual advantage over the last two years.

As retirees transition from accumulating wealth to living off it, the most challenging aspect can be moving from a steady paycheck to a fluctuating portfolio.

CDs (Certificates of Deposit) yield a fixed rate, and many have been leaning towards them due to the higher interest rate environment in recent years.

BINC is an actively-managed diversified bond ETF with a 5.2% yield. It focuses on quality, shorter-term securities, but invests in a wide array of bonds and fixed-income securities. It compares favorably to its benchmark on most key metrics, including dividend yield, past returns, risk-adjusted yield and returns.

Income ETFs in different shapes and sizes, with different characteristics. Some are riskier than others, some more diversified, some should perform particularly well when rates rise, and vice versa. Some are well-rounded choices, with no significant downsides, lots of benefits.