WEBVTT

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I'm Kent

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White, head of fixed income
at Thrivent Asset Management.

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And I'm Cortney Swensen,
senior portfolio manager,

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and we co-manage the Core Plus Bond ETF.

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The Core Plus Bond ETF will be managed
consistent with Thrivent’s broader fixed

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income investment philosophy
as we seek to deliver

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competitive risk-adjusted performance.

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Our primary goal is to outperform
through superior security selection.

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We view this as our core competency across
all of our portfolios.

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We employ a team oriented approach
led by frequent collaboration

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between sector teams,
portfolio managers, analysts and traders.

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Our views are informed by fundamentals,

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and the Fund will leverage analyst
expertise to help identify securities

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with the strongest risk-reward profiles
using a relative value framework.

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The primary focus of the Core
Plus ETF will be high quality,

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investment-grade-rated bonds,
particularly investment-grade

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corporate bonds
and high-quality securitized debt.

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There will also be an allocation to U.S.

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Treasuries, the size of which
will be dependent on our current

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views on macroeconomic risk and credit
risk.

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The Thrivent Core
Plus Bond ETF will fill an existing hole

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in Thrivent’s
fixed income lineup for our investors.

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It will be positioned between Thrivent’s
Government Bond Fund and the Thrivent

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Income Fund.

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The ETF will offer some incremental yield
over the Government Bond Fund,

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but still be a high-quality fund
that should deliver reliable

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income with less yield and volatility
than the Income Fund.

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The Thrivent Core

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Plus Bond ETF should be an all-weather
type of fixed income investment.

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It should outperform
higher-quality government bond funds

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and traditional core bond funds
in most market environments,

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except for those risk-off markets
where credit generally underperforms U.S.

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Treasuries.

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In risk-off markets, it would also
likely outperform more credit-focused

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funds, as the allocation to credit in
the ETF would be less than those funds.

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The ability
to flex the “plus” part of the ETF

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should also help us outperform
in different market environments.

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To help manage credit risk in the fund,
we will rely heavily on our in-house

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sector teams.

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As the portfolio management team,
we will also use numerous quantitative

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tools to monitor risk, reduce volatility

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and build a well-diversified portfolio.

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These tools also assist us in monitoring
other portfolio risks, such as interest

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rate risk, our ratings profile, structure
risk and liquidity risk.

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“Core Plus” refers to the addition
of high-yield corporate

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and emerging-market debt
and a few other asset classes

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that are not typically in the core bond
investment universe.

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The Core Plus strategy provides
flexibility to the portfolio management

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team to strategically and tactically
increase or decrease exposure to different

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asset classes based on our current views
of relative value and risk.

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In 2024, the Bloomberg U.S.

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Aggregate Bond Index,

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which is called the “Agg” and includes
all publicly issued U.S.

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dollar-denominated,
investment-grade debt, returned 1.25%

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as rising interest rates
cause negative price returns,

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which overwhelmed yields
that were in the 4–5% area for the year.

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In the core plus space,
however, the Morningstar category median

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outperformed the Agg by over 100
basis points due to a greater allocation

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to risk assets,
which had higher yields and experienced

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spread tightening as the economy
continued to post strong growth.

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We aim to outperform peers through sector
allocation and securities selection.

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Our investment team has a strong
track record in categories adjacent

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to the core plus bond category,
Our experience investing across the yield

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curve, our extensive resources
across asset classes

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and the application
of the same rigorous investment process

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should translate
well into the management of the ETF.

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I've over 25 years of experience
in the fixed income markets,

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primarily in investment-grade
corporate credit where I started

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as a corporate credit analyst,
I was the head of research,

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and I've managed multiple investment-grade
portfolios over my time at Thrivent,

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I have 20 years of industry experience
in various roles, including trading,

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corporate credit analyst and portfolio
manager for both corporate credit

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and emerging-markets
sovereign debt. Currently,

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I manage the Thrivent Short Term Bond Fund
and the Thrivent Income Fund.

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I think that I can speak
for everyone in Thrivent’s investment team

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that we're very excited to be launching
our first fixed income ETFs.

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It's an area of the fixed income market
that is growing rapidly,

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and we're excited to be able to offer
these new products to our investors.

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This is the first portfolio that I've
worked on that leverages the experience

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and expertise of all of our fixed
income investment teams.

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I'm excited to collaborate across sectors
and to offer to our shareholders

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exposure to all of these asset
classes within one fund.