Hartford Funds has launched the Hartford Short Duration ETF (HSRT), which seeks to provide current income and long-term total return by investing in fixed income securities.
HSRT, along with another recently launched fixed income ETF in April 2018, the Hartford Schroders Tax-Aware Bond ETF (NYSE: HTAB), adds to Hartford Funds’ ETF suite of six fixed income and seven multifactor ETFs.
“Lower duration and more frequent reinvestment are strong tools to help address rising rates within a fixed income allocation, and our actively-managed Short Duration ETF is designed to deliver both,” says Vernon Meyer, Chief Investment Officer of Hartford Funds. “We see fixed income ETFs as being well-positioned for the current market, with the goals of providing income and stability to help round out a portfolio.”
Sub-advised by Wellington Management Company LLP, HSRT will typically invest in investment grade securities, but can also invest in bank loans and non-investment grade fixed income securities. The Fund will use derivatives – such as Treasury futures and interest rate swaps – to manage its interest rate risk and duration, maintaining a dollar-weighted average duration of less than three years. HSRT’s expense ratio is 0.29 per cent.
The Short Duration investment team manages roughly USD31.9 Billion in assets (as of 3/31/18). Timothy Smith, Senior Managing Director and Fixed-Income Portfolio Manager at Wellington Management, is the portfolio manager on the Fund.