AB Ultra Short Income ETF

YEAR

Market cap $1.48B

Just three years after launching its first ETFs, AllianceBernstein (AB) recently reached $10 billion in assets. While index-based ETFs from iShares, Vanguard and State Street Investment Management continue to dominate the industry, there has been room for newer entrants to also succeed.

On Wednesday, AllianceBernstein unveiled its newest fund, the AB Emerging Markets Opportunities ETF (EMOP).  EMOP is an actively managed fund that seeks to generate long-term capital growth for its investment community.

In September 2025, AllianceBernstein (AB) will hit the three-year anniversary of launching its active ETF suite. When we last spotlighted the suite in November 2023, the firm had just crossed the $1 billion mark.

The AB Ultra Short Income ETF is an actively managed, ultra-short duration ETF focused on capital preservation and liquidity, investing primarily in investment-grade instruments. YEAR is overweight corporate bonds (41%) and treasuries (36%), maintaining a low duration of 0.9 years and a low standard deviation of 1%. YEAR compares favorably with peers like PIMCO Enhanced Short Maturity ETF and iShares Ultra Short-Term Bond Active ETF, showcasing robust total return performance.

With economic uncertainty and market volatility, income-oriented investors should consider fixed-income investments like ETFs to generate steady income and preserve capital. President Trump's tariff moves have increased market volatility. But this fear creates opportunities for attractive income investments in companies with strong business models and economic moats. The AB Ultra Short Income ETF offers stability and reliability, investing in investment-grade government and corporate bonds, yielding 5.07% with monthly distributions.

Bonds still bouncing along.

Interest in active fixed income products has swelled in 2024, as credit spreads narrow and the Federal Reserve holds fast to a “will they, won't they” game of trimming interest rates. Active fixed income ETFs have seen north of $11 billion in net inflows this year and $27 billion globally.

To celebrate the pending Exchange conference, VettaFi and some key industry partners were at the Nasdaq MarketSite to help ring the opening bell last week. Exchange will be the industry's largest ETF-, and most valuable advisor-focused, conference.

Demand has been strong for short-term fixed income ETFs in 2023. That helped AllianceBernstein (AB) pass $1 billion invested in ETFs assets in early November.