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Janus Henderson AAA CLO ETF (JAAA) - Highest yielding inexpensive ultra short investment grade bank loan corporate bond fund

I recently added a bank loan bond fund called Janus Henderson AAA CLO ETF (JAAA) to my bond holdings. It's an ultra short duration corporate bond fund typically yielding equivalent to prime minus 1. These are bonds of mostly *AAA* rated leveraged buyout private equity companies who typically finance leveraged buyout by borrowing from banks. Banks then sell these to investors by securatizing them. These bonds are typically for 3-5 years maturity. However they are floating rate and so they are insensitive to interest rate changes. As private equity corporate bond fund, it's certainly riskier bond fund. However, none of AAA rated such loans defaulted during 2001 and 2008 mega crashes. So, I have decided to take my chances with it. It's Yield to Maturity is currently 7.03%. This is one of the highest yield for any ultra short investment grade corporate bond fund with low 0.22% expense ratio. It's not even sensitive to interest rate as coupon is adjustable rate. Updated on J...
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Fidelity Fundamental Large Cap Core ETF(FFLC) - Excellent large cap blend active ETF with early focus on long lasting trends

Recently came across Fidelity Fundamental Large Cap Core ETF (*FFLC*) which has been very nicely outperforming it's large cap blend index. For example, it's annualized total return of 17% for last 3 years is just *double* of it's index.  Even though it's *actively* managed, it's expense ratio of 0.38% is as low as other inexpensive passive index funds.  It's P/E of 20 is 10% cheaper than it's underlying benchmark. Also, it's long term earning growth potential of 11% is 10% higher than it's benchmark. So, it has 10% more potential for total return alongside 10% discounted valuation. Best of both worlds. It's investment strategy involves investing primarily in equity securities. Identifying *early* signs of *long-term changes* in the marketplace and focusing on those companies that may benefit from *opportunities created by these changes* by examining technological advances, product innovation, economic plans, demographics, social attitudes, and ot...
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PGIM Ultra Short Bond ETF PULS - Good ultra short-term total bond fund ETF

PGIM Ultra Short Bond ETF (PULS) is a good low expense (0.15%) ultra short-term total bond fund ETF. It invests into investment grade (AA rated) corporate and government bonds with effective duration of 3 months. It offers 0.50-1% better return than AAA rated ultra short treasury bond ETFs such as SGOV. I believe such extra return might be worth, in spite of little bit lower rating. It's going forward yield to maturity is currently 6.04% Updated on Jan 12, 2025: PULS has continued outperforming it's underlying index 4 years in a row. It returned 6.12% last year (we discussed about it last year in Feb) as compared to ultrashort index's 4.39%. Hope it continues it's outperformance this year too.  This AA rated ultrashort (currently less than 1 month duration) Total bond fund ETF seems to be much better option than most of short term bank CD or high yielding savings account or most of money market funds. As Fed has cut interest rate few times last year, it's going forw...
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Themes Generative Artificial Intelligence ETF (WISE) - Passive index for providing exposure to the provision of products and/or services that contribute to AI related industries

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Someone asked me if I know any good ETF for AI stocks. I did some digging and sharing my findings below: One can look into *Themes Generative Artificial Intelligence (WISE) ETF*. It's inexpensive passive index which invests into companies that have (or are expected to have) exposure to the provision of products and/or services that contribute to AI related industries.  As compared to broad technology index, WISE is 10% more expensive with P/E of 30. Perhaps one can try *slowly* building position in it by buying on dip during future downward cycles. For this index, companies are only eligible if they generate at least 50% of their revenues from activities which make use of technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Data Analytics and Big Data, Natural Language Processing and AI-driven services. Expect lots of volatility for this cutting edge technology sector. This is how it's last 6 months chart looks like:
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Vanguard Core Bond ETF VCRB - Inexpensive Intermediate term Total Bond fund - Good substitute for Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF BND

I believe *actively* managed Vanguard Core Bond ETF (VCRB) is better substitute to 2 decades old *passive* (market value weighted) Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF (BND). In fact, market value of a bond offering doesn't make any sense to be a criteria to allocate more weight (allocation of money) to that bond offering. That's one reason why actively managed bond funds have been outperforming passive bond funds. Normally actively managed bond funds have higher expense ratio, but VCRB is an exception with just 0.10% expense ratio. As such, above bond fund should be used only for long haul investing such as in IRA or 401(K). Since they tend to be interest rate sensitive, we should *avoid* them for short term savings such as emergency funds.
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SPDR® S&P Semiconductor ETF (XSD) - Excellent small cap semiconductor index fund

Recently I came across another *semiconductor* focused low cost index ETF which seems quite promising index. It's called SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF ( *XSD*). Unlike iShares Semiconductor ETF SOXX ( https://financial-well-being.blogspot.com/2022/01/iShares-Semiconductor-ETF-SOXX-Passive-Semiconductor-technology-index.html ), which focuses primarily in *large* cap, XSD focuses into *small and mid* cap semiconductor companies of S&P Total index. It's *equal weighted* index and that's why it's average capitalization is in mid and small cap.Overall it's comparable or *even better* than SOXX. For example... - It's PE is comparable to that of SOXX - Dividend yield plus earnings growth of 16% as compared to lower 13% for SOXX - It's 3/5 year returns of 23/22% is 20% better than that of SOXX's 19/18%. It tracks *semiconductor small cap* sector which has been one of the top performer in technology sector with close to *20% annual return* for last 5, 10 an...
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iShares MSCI India Small-Cap ETF (SMIN) - Top performing Emerging Asia Pacific index fund ETF

Going forward I am thinking to add an *Emerging* Asia Pacific market ETF called iShares MSCI India Small-Cap ETF ( *SMIN* ). It's *top performer* for last 3 and 5 years period with annual returns of 22% and 13% for this emerging market segment. With 22% long-term *earning growth* projections, it's expected to produce top long-term return. As *country specific* fund, it's certainly concentrated and is more expensive (0.75% expense ratio). However, unlike other top performer ETFs, it's focus is not specific to any hot speculative industry. Also, it's capitalization falls into *mid* cap (borderline large cap) range, making it less aggressive than typical small cap etf. It's P/E of 22 is 10% higher than typical India equity fund. However, it's long term earnings growth projection of 22% is 30% more than it's category. So it's total return potential is still way (20-30%) higher than typical India equity fund. I am planning to build more position into it...
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