The June issue of our Bond Fund Intelligence, which was sent to subscribers Friday morning, features the stories, "Franklin Converts Putnam Muni Funds to ETFs; Vanguard," which covers Franklin Templeton converting 10 Putnam Municipal Bond Mutual Funds to ETFs, and "JPM: Low-Duration BFs See Inflows; Vanguard Core Bond," which looks at JPM's recent Mid-Week US Short Duration Update. BFI also recaps the latest Bond Fund News and includes our Crane BFI Indexes, which show that bond fund returns were mixed in May while yields were lower. We excerpt from the new issue below. (Contact us if you'd like to see our latest Bond Fund Intelligence and BFI XLS spreadsheet, or our Bond Fund Portfolio Holdings data.)
BFI's lead article states, "A press release titled, 'Franklin Templeton to Convert 10 Putnam Municipal Bond Mutual Funds to ETFs,' tells us, 'Franklin Templeton ... announced plans to convert 10 Putnam municipal bond mutual funds into exchange-traded funds (ETFs), marking a significant expansion of its municipal bond ETF lineup following the acquisition of Putnam Investments in January 2024. The conversions are expected to be completed between the fourth quarter of 2025 and the first quarter of 2026.'"
It continues, "The funds selected, which will become part of the Franklin Templeton ETF platform, include: Putnam California Tax Exempt Income Fund; Putnam Massachusetts Tax Exempt Income Fund; Putnam Minnesota Tax Exempt Income Fund; Putnam New Jersey Tax Exempt Income Fund; Putnam New York Tax Exempt Income Fund; Putnam Ohio Tax Exempt Income Fund; Putnam Pennsylvania Tax Exempt Income Fund; Putnam Short-Term Municipal Income Fund; Putnam Tax Exempt Income Fund; and, Putnam Tax-Free High Yield Fund."
Our "JPM" article states, "J.P. Morgan recently published a 'JPM Mid-Week US Short Duration Update,' titled, 'April showers low-duration bond funds with inflows.' It states, 'Low-duration bond funds posted another solid month of inflows in April, pulling in $13bn and bringing total AUMs across the funds we track to $868bn. This marks the fourth straight month of net inflows, with year-to-date totals reaching $43bn, a roughly 5% increase since the start of the year.'"
It continues, "They write, 'Most strategies across the low-duration space saw inflows during the month..., but short-term government funds stood out. These funds took in $3.6bn in April alone, accounting for 58% of their YTD inflows. So far in 2025, short-term government funds have garnered $6.2bn, already surpassing full year inflows in comparison to any of the past six years outside of 2020.'"
Our first News brief, "Returns Flat, Yields Inch Lower in May." says, "Bond fund returns were mixed in May after rising in April. Our BFI Total Index rose 0.10% over 1-month and rose 5.40% over 12 months. (Money funds rose 4.66% over 1-year as measured by our Crane 100 Index.) The BFI 100 decreased 0.08% in May and rose 5.99% over 12 mos. Our BFI Conservative Ultra-Short Index was up 0.35% over 1-month and 5.14% for 1-year; Ultra-Shorts rose 0.31% and 5.46%. Short-Term returned 0.15% and 6.35%, and Intm-Term fell 0.47% in May and 5.84% over 12 mos. BFI’s Long-Term Index was down 0.53% and up 5.20%. High Yield returned 1.45% in May and 7.47% over 12 mos."
A second News brief, "'Vanguard Launches a New Actively Managed Bond ETF' says a press release. It explains, 'Vanguard ... launched Vanguard Multi-Sector Income Bond ETF (VGMS), an actively managed fixed income ETF overseen by Vanguard Fixed Income Group.'"
Our next News brief, "'Franklin Templeton to Shutter Two Unpopular Bond ETFs' Writes ETF.com. They write, 'Franklin Templeton will liquidate two actively managed bond exchange-traded funds this summer, shuttering the Western Asset Short Duration Income ETF (WINC) and the Western Asset Total Return ETF (WBND) after they failed to gain investor traction.'"
A BFI sidebar, "Payden US Govt Turns 30," tells us, "A press release, 'Payden U.S. Government Fund Turns 30,' states, 'Payden & Rygel is proud to celebrate the 30-year anniversary of the Payden U.S. Government Fund (PYUSX), a bond fund that invests in U.S. Treasuries, government agency debentures and agency mortgage-backed securities with an average portfolio maturity of less than five years.'"
Finally, another sidebar, "Barron's: Bond ETFs to Buy," says, "Barron's writes, 'Bond ETFs to Buy in a World of Trump-Induced Volatility,' which tells us, 'May was bad enough for Treasury bonds that many income investors were likely tempted to rush to the safety of their mattress. That is never a great idea. There are still plenty of high-yielding bond options that offer a measure of safety and yield that should allow investors to have to have their income and sleep at night, too.'"
