Ask More From Your Core
ETFs utilizing active management in core fixed income can offer several key advantages over passive strategies, including broader market access, increased flexibility, superior risk management, and the potential for higher income and returns.
Explore Full PDF
5/7/2026
9 min read
Topic
ETFs
Key takeaways
- Active core fixed income ETFs can provide broader market access, increased flexibility, and the potential for superior risk management and returns compared with passive strategies.
- Passive strategies may miss opportunities due to limited exposures and rigid index rules, while an active approach can broaden the opportunity set, exploit market inefficiencies, and adjust for credit risks.
- Allspring’s active core and core plus ETFs combine proven strategies, expert management, disciplined processes, and the advantages of an ETF to deliver strong outcomes for investors.
Executive summary
Active core fixed income ETFs
Active core fixed income exchange-traded funds (ETFs) can serve as a powerful portfolio ballast, offering reliable income and diversification while navigating a vast and complex global bond market. Unlike passive bond ETFs tied to rigid indexes, active strategies can broaden exposure, manage interest rate risk, and adjust for credit conditions to support more resilient outcomes.
Why active vs. passive bond ETFs
Passive bond index strategies, such as those tracking the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index, represent a limited slice of the global fixed income universe and are weighted by total debt outstanding. Active bond ETFs provide greater flexibility to exploit inefficiencies, avoid overleveraged issuers, and pursue enhanced yield and total return potential through informed security selection.
Asking more from your core fixed income allocation
In volatile market environments, investors seeking reliable income generation and portfolio diversification tools may benefit from active management. With disciplined processes, expert fixed income advisory, and diverse sources of yield, active core and core plus fixed income ETFs are positioned as tax-efficient investment vehicles designed to help investors secure their long-term investment goals.
Related insights
Molly Landes is head of ETF Capital Markets for Allspring, leading strategic relationships with key trading partners and overseeing the quality and efficiency of our ETF trading business.
Diversification does not ensure or guarantee better performance and cannot eliminate the risk of investment losses.
The Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index is a broad-based benchmark that measures the investment-grade, U.S.-dollar-denominated, fixed-rate taxable bond market, including Treasuries, government-related and corporate securities, mortgage-backed securities (agency fixed-rate and hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage pass-throughs), asset-backed securities, and commercial mortgage-backed securities. You cannot invest directly in an index.
Allspring Global Investments does not provide accounting, legal, or tax advice or investment recommendations.
Investing involves risk, including the possible loss of principal. It is possible that an active trading market for ETF shares will not develop, which may hurt your ability to buy or sell shares, particularly in times of market stress. Shares may trade at a premium or discount to their net asset value (NAV) in the secondary market. These variations may be greater when markets are volatile or subject to unusual conditions. There can be no assurance that active trading markets for the shares will develop or be maintained by market makers or authorized participants. Shares of the ETFs are not redeemable with the ETF other than in creation unit aggregations. Instead, investors must buy or sell the ETF shares in the secondary market at market price (not NAV) through a broker-dealer. In doing so, the investor may incur brokerage commissions and may pay more than NAV when buying and may receive less than NAV when selling. Investing involves risk, including the possible loss of principal. Consult a fund’s prospectus for additional information on these and other risks.
Allspring ETFs are not available for distribution outside of the United States.
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