Stephanie Stanton: Well, despite stock market turmoil, bonds have been a relatively calm area within the investment universe. And fixed income investors have thus far seen bonds doing their job as an important diversifier. Thrivent Asset Management has expanded their bond ETF lineup. And here to tell us more is Kyle DeTullio, ETF capital market specialist with Thrivent Asset Management. Hello, Kyle. It is great to have you here on first look ETF.

Kyle DeTullio: Yeah, thank you very much.

Stanton: So, before we talk about your firm's new bond ETFs, what are some of today's challenges facing fixed income investors?

DeTullio: Well, so that's a great and timely question. And first, just as a quick introduction for your audience, again, I'm here with Thrivent Asset Management, which has an investment management legacy stretching back over 50 years. We have more than 140 investment professionals focused on the stewardship of the roughly $70 billion in assets that our clients have entrusted to us. We here are investors, not traders, who utilize a team and proprietary research driven approach in our active strategies across asset classes. And so that really brings me nicely to your question because active management can be particularly useful in times of volatility, and those are exactly the biggest challenges we're facing as fixed income investors today. So, the story of 2025 has really been one of uncertainty. Policy uncertainty and often contradictory economic data have led to fixed income markets that are having difficulty pricing various outcomes on a day-to-day basis, giving us this increased volatility that we've seen. With that in mind and looking ahead, we're keeping a close eye on the growth backdrop, especially now that we have some more clarity around tariffs and trade policy. In particular, we're going to be watching for impacts on consumer spending on the labor market and for signs of margin pressure on companies which could alter their behavior. Now, some good news is that yields continue to be attractive and investment grade and high yield corporates and fixed income should continue to perform well in a diversified portfolio. And there's more potential for total return opportunity if the economy weakens from here. So frankly, it all creates an environment where active management can really add value to portfolios.

Stanton: I like to hear good news. Okay. Thrivent Asset Management's new bond ETFs, your ticker symbols, there are TUSB and TCPB, each of them offer unique exposure to the U.S. bond market. How do the funds compare to each other?

DeTullio: So after entering the ETF market in 2022 with the launch of our Thrivent Small-Mid Cap Equity ETF, ticker TSME, we're excited to have recently added these two fixed income ETFs, one ultra-short and one core plus as the next phase of growth for our actively managed ETF suite. So first we have the Thrivent Ultra Short Bond ETF, ticker TUSB. So, we talked about the current backdrop of attractive yields and the recent volatility. Well, TUSB is specifically managed to seek a high level of current income while preserving capital. This ETF, it's investing in investment grade corporate bonds, securitized debt, and U.S. government bonds. The fund is also keeping its overall duration generally around one year or less. And allocating to securities with short maturities helps to reduce the interest rate risk and therefore volatility of the fund.

Next is the Thrivent Core Plus Bond ETF, ticker TCPB. TCPB is allocating further out on the curve with investments in intermediate maturities. It also expands its reach to include high yield corporate bonds and emerging market debt. This is all in an effort to both generate current income as well as total return and long-term capital growth. Now, despite their differences, both of these strategies are built with the investment philosophy that underlies all of Thrivent Asset Management's fixed income work. And that really is a team oriented, disciplined fundamental credit research process at the foundation value added through security selection, which we really consider to be our core competency and a heavy emphasis on risk management to minimize volatility given the asymmetric risks inherent in fixed income.

Stanton: So how would you see investors and financial advisors deploying TUSB and TCPB as part of an overall diversified portfolio?

DeTullio: Well, our Ultra Short Bond ETF, again, that's TUSB, can be viewed as a cash alternative designed to help investors earn income while preserving assets. So, in comparison to a money market fund, it may provide an opportunity for investors to earn an enhanced yield without taking on significant duration or credit risk. TUSB could also be a good fit for investors looking to reduce duration in their portfolio at times of heightened macroeconomic uncertainty. Much like we have now, shorter duration products may be less sensitive to interest rate volatility and may offer stability in a portfolio.

Our Core Plus Bond ETF, TCPB, on the other hand may be a better choice for investors who are looking to take on a bit more exposure to interest rates and for the potential of that greater total return over the long term. For such investors, the flexibility of the portfolio to invest in those high yield and emerging market debt areas may lead to increased income. These plus allocation areas really do offer greater diversification, additional opportunities, and an enhanced ability to be more tactical with the portfolio composition. And it's this flexibility that allows us to be more opportunistic throughout the credit cycle as we seek to outperform. So TCPB could be a fit for investors who are looking for a product with a potentially higher risk, higher reward profile without getting too far out on the curve.

Stanton: Kyle, thank you so much for dropping by today. It has been our pleasure.

DeTullio: Thank you.