December 14, 2020 Active management is a great tool to have when it comes to a strenuous fixed income universe. The MINT seeks greater income and total return potential than cash and money market funds by investing in a broad range of high-quality short-term instruments. Fixed income investors now have to get strategic when it comes to the bond markets as well. One area that investors can look to is investment-grade debt issues with a prime focus on quality–with MINT, this quality is inherent in its exposure to investment-grade debt. “Exchange-traded funds focused on fixed-income securities can be excellent choices for getting exposure to bonds. For starters, many ETFs are transparent–they track indexes with very specific duration and credit-quality traits–and offer few surprises,” writes Morningstar’s Susan Dziubinski. “Moreover, they’re usually low-cost, which is even more important when investing in bonds than in equities: Every basis point paid in expenses is one less basis point in return, and returns are typically tougher to come by with bonds than with stocks.”