American Century Dvrs Corp Bd ETF’s management team is rated Average, but a solid investment process still helps this strategy retain its Morningstar Medalist Rating of Bronze. The portfolio maintains a sizable cost advantage over competitors, priced within the lowest fee quintile among peers.  

 The strategy's investment process inspires confidence and earns an Above Average Process Pillar rating. Independent of the rating, analysis of the strategy's portfolio shows it has maintained an underweight position in BB rated bonds and debt with 15- to 20-year maturities compared with category peers. The strategy’s management team earns an Average People Pillar rating. The strategy's parent organization earns the firm an Average Parent Pillar rating. People Pillar and Parent Pillar ratings for this strategy are indirectly assigned by a Morningstar analyst rather than algorithmically derived. Please see the notes following each pillar section for more details. The details of assigning methods can be found in each pillar section.

Analyst Rating

Morningstar's style-agnostic evaluation of this fund's process seeks to understand whether the strategy has a performance objective and sensible, repeatable execution. American Century Dvrs Corp Bd ETF earns an Above Average Process Pillar rating.   The most important driver of the rating is the parent firm's five-year risk-adjusted success ratio of 55%. The measure indicates the percentage of a firm's funds that survived and beat their respective category's median Morningstar Risk-Adjusted Return for the period. The size of the portfolio management team also reinforces the process. With five portfolio managers, the fund is well-staffed. Lastly, the process is limited by its parent firm's disappointing risk-adjusted performance, as shown by the firm's average 10-year Morningstar Rating of 2.9 stars. A lower star rating suggests that the firm has struggled to outperform on a risk-adjusted basis.

 Compared with other funds in the Corporate Bond Morningstar Category, this fund maintains significantly lower interest-rate sensitivity through historical portfolios. But in terms of long-term credit risk, it is in line with peers. Opening the analysis to additional factors, the portfolio has displayed three biases over time, whether towards or away from certain fixed-income instruments. Relative to the category average, the managers have been underweight BB rated bonds. Additionally, there's been a notable bias away from debt with 15- to 20-year maturities. And finally, the fund leans away from securitized debt.

 This strategy's 12-month yield is 4.0%, which is near its average peer. It also has a 5.3% 30-day SEC yield (a measure similar to yield-to-maturity). The portfolio's average surveyed credit quality is on par with peers, with both the fund and the average being rated BBB.

Above Average

Process

American Century Dvrs Corp Bd ETF earns an Average People Pillar rating. The team is backed by Jeffrey L. Houston, the longest-tenured manager on the strategy, who brings over 25 years of portfolio management experience. The strategies they currently manage have an average Morningstar Rating of 2.9 stars, demonstrating average risk-adjusted performance compared with category peers. The team boasts an experienced corps of listed portfolio managers, with four others supporting Jeffrey L. Houston. Together, they average 12 years of portfolio management experience.  The team has successfully retained portfolio-manager talent, providing continuity for strategies as long-term stability tends to support positive results. There have been no documented departures within the past three years. None of the managers here invest any money in the strategy, which is disappointing, as such investments help align managers' interests with fundholders.

 Note: The People Pillar rating is indirectly assigned by an analyst. The longest-tenured manager of the fund also manages a different product rated by an analyst. Their analyst-assigned People Pillar rating is combined here with the People scores (algorithmic or analyst-assigned) for the fund’s other managers on a tenure-weighted basis.

Average

People

An evolution is taking hold at American Century, but some pluses and minuses continue, supporting a continued Parent rating of Average.
The firm entered the ETF market in 2019 by launching Avantis Investors, led by former executives from Dimensional, a strong firm that manages semi-passive strategies with value tilts and low fees. Avantis is now running roughly a dozen ETFs with similar features, while American Century’s in-house teams manage another 16 active ETFs. This effort is still fairly new and small as a percentage of assets under management, as most ETFs have been launched since 2019, but they help American Century compete with lower-cost passive and strategic-beta funds.
The bulk of the firm’s assets remain in U.S. mutual funds run by its internal boutiques. The U.S. value team has long been a standout, with tenured, stable management and good long-term results, but other investment teams haven’t produced consistently distinctive portfolios or performance, and some have continued to endure investment-professional turnover.
The firm’s ownership structure is noteworthy and supports a long-term strategy. While the firm has worked with a few large minority shareholders, including current 41% stakeholder Nomura, The Stowers Institute for Medical Research owns 45% of the firm but holds 70% of the equity voting rights. Employees own the rest, which should encourage retention.

Parent

American Century Diversified Corporate Bond ETF

KORP is an actively managed, U.S. denominated portfolio of corporate debt securities and investments. The fund seeks current income.

With the capital markets expecting the U.S. Federal Reserve to pivot from its tight monetary policy in an effort to counter inflation, fixed income investors can continue to obtain yield from corporate bonds.

As Corporate Bonds Increase Appeal, Get Active With This ETF

The S&P 500 is up over 15% year-to-date, but bonds may be looking more attractive from a value standpoint. This includes riskier corporate bonds that can offer fixed income investors more yield in a current rising rate environment.

Diversify Exposure to Corporate Bonds With One ETF

Avantis U.S. Small Cap Value ETF

American Century Focused Dynamic Growth ETF

American Century Focused Large Cap Value ETF

American Century STOXX U.S. Quality Value ETF

American Century's ETF operations hit a key milestone last week, surpassing $25 billion in assets under management across the 36 ETFs it markets under its American Century and Avantis brands. The firm first entered the market a little over five years ago.

American Century ETFs Cross $25 Billion Mark

Avantis Core Fixed Income ETF

American Century Multisector Floating Income ETF

American Century Multisector Income ETF

American Century Short Duration Strategic Income ETF

Fixed income has been perhaps the big story so far this year in asset management, delivering on the “income” part of the name with very appealing assets on the market.

American Century's Venkataraman on Duration, Yield in 2023

Two strategies from American Century Investments just celebrated their fifth birthdays in January, with the pair poised to help investors through a complicated 2023. The five-year ETF mark may not be as key of a milestone as the three-year mark for flows, but for the American Century STOXX U.S.

American Century's KORP, VALQ Hit 5-Year ETF Mark

If fixed income is on the rebound, investors might be asking: Which bonds have the best potential for 2023? It's an important question and carries much uncertainty surrounding how far the Fed plans to go before it believes it has sufficiently whipped inflation.

As FI Rebounds, Watch Active Corporate Bond ETF KORP

American Century Select High Yield ETF

Investors are diving into bonds once again after a forgettable year for the fixed income market. Getting active exposure via exchange-traded funds (ETFs) could help ease any anxiety for unknowns in 2023.

As Large Investors Head Back Into Bonds, Consider These 2 Active ETFs

Have you heard? Bonds are back, with rising rates positioning debt securities from all sorts of subsectors to provide notable yields and long term stability for portfolios beleaguered by the prospect of a looming recession.

Play American Century Bond Trio as FI Rebounds

The corporate bond market could finally be taking a turn for the better if hedge funds' bets are correct. More capital is pouring back into bonds as certain debt issues are flashing value-oriented opportunities in a challenging market environment.

Extract Value From the Corporate Bond Market With KORP

KraneShares Global Carbon ETF

KFA Small Cap Quality Dividend Index ETF

KraneShares CSI China Internet ETF

Schwab US TIPS ETF

Schwab U.S. Large-Cap ETF

American Century Diversified Municipal Bond

It's that time of year again, as firms start to share their estimated cap gain distributions for their ETFs.

These ETFs Aren't Issuing Cap Gains

It's fair to say that it's been an up and down year for the old 60/40 portfolio. But investors may be buoyed by an uptick in flows for corporate bonds over the last month.

Target October Corporate Bond ETF Swing in KORP

Capital gains season is almost upon mutual fund investors. This is a time when fund managers attempt to give their investors an idea of what their 2022 tax bills may look like by estimating how much their funds will distribute in income and capital gains later in the year.

Consider the Tax Efficiency of ETFs During Capital Gains Season

It's been a rough year for bond markets, with 2022 shaping up to be the worst period for fixed income since at least 1926 (if not the late 18th Century). With markets continuing to be volatile, many investors are bracing for annual investment losses.

Mitigate Investment Losses With KORP

Investors appear to be finally accepting the idea that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates into restrictive territory and remain at that high rate for a while. Results from a recent survey by CNBC show that the average respondent believes the U.S.

Quell Recession Fears With Actively Managed Bond Funds

Inflation fears may have dissipated in July, but the recession narrative is growing. As such, investors are focusing on bonds once again as a safe haven escape if economic growth suffers from rising interest rates.

Consider These Active Bond ETF Options as Recession Fears Grow

For the first half of 2022, bonds have been seemingly in lockstep with stocks as inflation fears applied selling pressure on debt markets as the U.S. Federal Reserved hiked rates. Now, investors are returning to bonds, giving prospective investors an opportunity to reallocate capital into fixed income again.

2 Options as Investors Pour Capital Back Into Bonds

With the downward pressure in bond prices, even the safest bets like benchmark Treasury notes and longer maturity bonds were susceptible to rising yields. Of course, a riskier debt like corporate bonds saw prices fall, but that risk can be diversified away by looking in the right places.

Diversify Away Risk in Corporate Bonds With This ETF

The bond market could be seeing upside ahead, but wary investors might not be ready to simply jump back into the market, especially with respect to riskier corporate bonds. That said, an active management approach could help quell some of the fear.

As Investors Dive Back Into Corporate Bonds, Here's an Active Option

Bond exchange traded funds strengthened on Thursday as investors continued to trim back on risk assets, with the S&P 500 dancing around a correction territory for the fourth consecutive session. While U.S. equities surged in early Thursday trading off the backs of heavy selling in response to the Federal Reserve's announcement in the prior session, [.

Bond ETFs Gain as Investors Reassess Fed Policy Risks

The Future Fund Active ETF

Bond exchange traded funds strengthened while the equity markets plunged, with the S&P 500 on pace to confirm a correction, and risk-off traders turned to safety bets. Many investors turned risk-off in the face of aggressive monetary policy tightening out of the Federal Reserve to combat inflationary pressures and the prospects of a Russian attack [.

Bond ETFs Gain as Traders Pick Up Safety

Bond exchange traded funds strengthened as investors trimmed risk and turned to safer bets with the U.S. equities market continuing their pullback. Wall Street main indexes retreated with the Nasdaq set for its fourth consecutive day of declines.

Bond ETFs Strengthen as Investors Reduce Risk Exposure

Bond exchange traded funds gained on Thursday as investors dumped riskier assets in favor of safer fixed income assets. U.S. equities retreated on Thursday with technology stocks dragging on the markets as investors continued to focus on the Federal Reserve's interest rate hike outlook, which has been a major cause for concerns about the growth [.

Bond ETFs Rise as Investors Cut Down on Risk

American Century Emerging Markets Bond ETF

Avantis Core Municipal Fixed Income ETF

It's been a tough time for bonds. Fixed income markets were challenged in 2021, and with the Fed indicating that it could raise rates as many as three times this year, it looks as though 2022 won't be much better for the asset class.

Low-Duration Intermediate Fixed Income Serves as Attractive Diversifier

Bond exchange traded funds still have a place in a portfolio as a diversifier against risk selling pressures, with Wall Street indexes retreating and technology stocks lagging behind. The Nasdaq has declined as much as 10.37% below its intra-day record level back on November 22, Reuters reports.

Diversify Risk in Today's Market With Bond ETFs

Bond exchange traded funds strengthened on Monday as U.S. markets tumbled amid concerns over rising COVID-19 Omicron cases and a setback in President Joe Biden's Build Back Better bill. The resurgence in global infections of the more transmissible Omicron coronavirus variant have fueled volatility in financial markets as many European countries and the United Kingdom [.

News for American Century Diversified Corporate Bond ETF ETF (KORP)