Why Are Insurance Companies Getting Into ETFs? June 1, 2021 Insurance companies were big fans of fixed income ETFs in 2020, according to a CFRA “Funds in Focus” report. Fixed income ETFs got a helping hand in 2020 during the height of the pandemic. To shore up the bond markets, the Federal Reserve stepped in to help prevent credit defaults. The Fed cast a wide net into the debt market, picking up even risky high-yield assets. This included bond ETFs that focused on highly leveraged corporate debt that was less than investment grade. Investors tailed the Fed’s actions by piling into fixed income ETFs as a safe haven scramble amid the equity volatility. Based on the CFRA data, insurance companies were no different.