# Jeff Johnson on the rise of active fixed income ETFs

> Vanguard’s paper “Jeff Johnson on the rise of active fixed income ETFs”, summarized by ETFIQ with its own data beside it. Summary by ETFIQ.

Data as of Oct 21, 2026. Rebuilt every trading night.

Published Apr 1, 2026 by Vanguard. Summary by ETFIQ as of Oct 21, 2026.

## Jeff Johnson on the rise of active fixed income ETFs

In an April 2026 podcast summary, Vanguard, citing Morningstar, says fixed income drew approximately $600 billion of flows in 2025, roughly 70% of it into ETFs.

Vanguard · Issuer · Read the full paper at Vanguard ↗

### What it says

Figures as stated by Vanguard, Apr 1, 2026

- Vanguard sizes the U.S. ETF market at roughly $13 trillion in assets, citing Morningstar and ETFGI figures through November 30, 2025. (Vanguard)

- Jeff Johnson, who leads U.S. fixed income product at Vanguard, says advisors increasingly use active bond ETFs to hold a management team's chosen bonds in one liquid fund. (Vanguard)

- Vanguard says 42 of 48 of its actively managed bond funds beat their peer group averages over the 10 years to December 31, 2025. (Vanguard)

- Vanguard says its lineup carries a weighted expense ratio averaging 10 basis points, compared with 46 basis points industry-wide, according to Morningstar. (Vanguard)

- Vanguard says its bond and money market funds held $2.8 trillion as of December 31, 2025, run by more than 200 fixed income professionals. (Vanguard)

### The ETFIQ take

ETFIQ data to Oct 20, 2026 · the 204 of 833 bond ETFs with a daily figure, Sep 21, 2026 to Oct 20, 2026

Vanguard reports Morningstar's count of approximately $600 billion of fixed income flows in 2025, roughly 70% of which went to ETFs. From Sep 21, 2026 to Oct 20, 2026, bond ETFs had a net flow of +$35.7bn, summed over the 204 of 833 bond ETFs ETFIQ covers that have a daily figure.

+$35.7bn net flow into bond ETFs, Sep 21, 2026 to Oct 20, 2026, over the 204 of 833 with a daily figure , Oct 20, 2026. ETFIQ

+$177.3bn net flow into bond ETFs, Jan 2, 2026 to Oct 20, 2026, over the 184 of 833 with a daily figure , Oct 20, 2026. ETFIQ

Paper: Fixed income fund flows, calendar year 2025. ETFIQ: the 204 of 833 bond ETFs with a daily figure, Sep 21, 2026 to Oct 20, 2026. Net flow is the change in shares outstanding times the day’s NAV, summed over the days in the window, for the funds with a daily figure. The two sets and windows differ; the figures are stated, not reconciled. Method Data

### Related ETFs

The largest bond ETFs ETFIQ covers, by net assets

- BND Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF: −1.9%

- AGG iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF: −2.0%

- SGOV iShares 0-3 Month Treasury Bond ETF: +3.7%

- BNDX Vanguard Total International Bond ETF: −1.2%

- VCIT Vanguard Intermediate-Term Corporate Bond ETF: −2.3%

- MUB iShares National Muni Bond ETF: −1.7%

Figure: total return, 1 year, to Oct 21, 2026, from each fund’s page. All 830 bond ETFs →

### Related papers

Investment Company Institute · Industry body · Oct 20, 2026 · ETFIQ take

#### Release: Estimated ETF Net Issuance

In an October 2026 release, the Investment Company Institute estimated net ETF issuance of $53.26 billion for the week to October 14, 2026.

Flows Bonds Read the paper ↗

J.P. Morgan Asset Management · Issuer · Oct 15, 2026 · ETFIQ take

#### Guide to ETFs

J.P. Morgan Asset Management's October 2026 Guide to ETFs counts 5,677 U.S. ETFs holding $16.3 Tn, with data through September 30, 2026.

Flows Bonds Read the paper ↗

First Trust · Issuer · Oct 7, 2026 · ETFIQ take

#### ETF Data Watch

First Trust's October 2026 flows monitor shows US-listed ETFs took in $139.9 billion of net inflows in September, lifting total assets to $15.9 trillion.

Flows Bonds Income Read the paper ↗

All 12 papers on bonds →

### Questions people ask

What does the Vanguard paper conclude? In an April 2026 podcast summary, Vanguard, citing Morningstar, says fixed income drew approximately $600 billion of flows in 2025, roughly 70% of it into ETFs. The paper’s own words are at the link above. What does ETFIQ’s data show on the same question? From Sep 21, 2026 to Oct 20, 2026, bond ETFs had a net flow of +$35.7bn, summed over the 204 of 833 bond ETFs ETFIQ covers that have a daily figure. ETFIQ states both figures and does not reconcile them. What does a bond ETF hold? A basket of bonds, such as Treasuries or corporate bonds, with a duration and credit mix set by its index or manager. Where can I read “Jeff Johnson on the rise of active fixed income ETFs”? On Vanguard’s own site. ETFIQ summarizes the paper and does not host it.

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Source: ETFIQ, independent ETF data. Recomputed nightly from public filings and prices.
Cite: ETFIQ, Jeff Johnson on the rise of active fixed income ETFs (Vanguard), summary and ETFIQ take, as of Oct 21, 2026. https://etfiq.com/research/library/vanguard-jeff-johnson-on-the-rise-of-active-fixed-income-etfs/
Licence: https://etfiq.com/license/ Figures ETFIQ computes are free to use with attribution: ETFIQ (etfiq.com). Issuer data stays under its owner's terms.
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