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Sunday, August 23, 2026The Morning Brief →Sign in

FIRST TRUST TCW UNCONSTRAINED PLUS BOND ETF

$24.56-0.28% today
252552-WK

The investment objective of the First Trust TCW Unconstrained Plus Bond ETF is to seek to maximize long-term total return. Under normal market conditions, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets (including investment borrowings) in a portfolio of fixed income securities. The Fund's investment sub-advisor, TCW Investment Management Company LLC ("TCW" or the "Sub-Advisor"), manages the Fund's portfolio in an "unconstrained" manner, meaning that its investment universe is not limited to the securities of any particular index and it has discretion to invest in fixed income securities of any type or credit quality, including up to 70% of its net assets in high yield (or "junk") securities, up to 60% of its net assets in securities issued by issuers with significant ties to emerging market countries and up to 50% of its net assets in securities denominated in non-U.S. currencies. Additionally, under normal market conditions, the Fund's average portfolio duration will vary from between 0 to 10 years. Duration is a measure of the expected price volatility of a fixed income security as a result of changes in market rates of interest.

Price & daily flows
24.724.624.624.56DAILY NET FLOWJul 24Aug 4Aug 12Aug 21

SOURCE: MARKET TAPE & DAILY CREATION/REDEMPTION RECORDS · 1M SHOWN

The desk’s read

Flows are quiet — the past month netted out near zero, while the price has returned -2.4% so far this year. At 0.85% a year it is not the cheapest way in — IJH runs the same ground at 0.05%.

COMPOSED FROM THE FUND’S OWN DAILY RECORDS · UPDATED WITH EACH REFRESH

$2.9Bassets under management
0.85%expense ratio · $85 per $10,000 a year
net flow, trailing month
494Kavg daily volume, 30 days
38holdings · US-domiciled
2023listed October 22, 2023 · beta 0.11
Sector weights
Cash & Others100%
Other100%
Securitized53.65%
Government21.39%
Corporate20.31%
Cash2.59%
Miscellaneous1.58%
Municipal0.23%
Finance0.11%
Loans0.09%
PORTFOLIO COMPOSITION, LATEST DISCLOSURE
Country weights
China100%
Other100%
United States100%
PORTFOLIO COMPOSITION, LATEST DISCLOSURE
Performance
1 week-0.4%
1 month+0.1%
3 months-0.9%
6 months-3.1%
YTD-2.4%
1 year-1.5%
3 years

PRICE RETURN, DISTRIBUTIONS NOT REINVESTED

Net flows
1 week
1 month
3 months
YTD
1 year

CREATION/REDEMPTION DOLLARS, DAILY RECORDS

The risk read
3%realized volatility, 30 days (annualized)
3%realized volatility, 1 year
-3.4%deepest fall from a peak, 1 year
-3.2%where it sits vs. that peak today

VOLATILITY & DRAWDOWN FROM THE DAILY TAPE · CONCENTRATION FROM THE LATEST DISCLOSED BOOK

The case against UCON

Due diligence cuts both ways. These funds sit on the same shelf and beat UCON on at least one dimension that matters — the fee, the asset base, or where the money is going.

FundFeeAssetsFlow, 1MThe case
STIP iShares 0-5 Year TIPS Bond ETF0.03%$16B+$288M-82bp on fee · 6× the assets · +$288M in over the monthHead-to-head
MBB iShares MBS ETF0.04%$39B+$26M-81bp on fee · 14× the assets · +$26M in over the monthHead-to-head
IJH iShares Core S&P Mid-Cap ETF0.05%$128.4B+$547M-80bp on fee · 45× the assets · +$547M in over the monthHead-to-head
IGSB iShares 1-5 Year Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF0.04%$23.4B+$520M-81bp on fee · 8× the assets · +$520M in over the monthHead-to-head
IGIB iShares 5-10 Year Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF0.04%$18.7B+$312M-81bp on fee · 7× the assets · +$312M in over the monthHead-to-head
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InstrumentsHarvest substitutesTrade cost at $1MClient tearsheetStress this fund
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