Closed end funds – a perinnial favorite of fixed-income investors given their high yields – have become particularly risky as many managers use shady tactics to maintain yields as par values have risen. Here are three exchange traded funds that offer high yields with none of the closed-end risk.

As bond yields have fallen, many closed-end funds have used capital gains to prop up falling distributions. At this stage in the game, most closed-end bond funds face a dilemma: Deploy cash into the lower-yielding issues or buy riskier issues and leverage up.

Neither option is appealing, but the latter approach should terrify you: Remember the dangers of the dangers of leverage after what transpired in the back half of 2008? Leveraged funds—including most closed-end funds—posted declines two and three times the broader market’s losses while trading at wild discounts or premiums to net asset value (NAV).

Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are great alternatives to their closed-end cousins, eschewing leverage and avoiding steep discounts or premiums to NAV.

Here are my favorite fixed-income ETFs, all of which make dependable monthly payouts, don’t rely on leverage and trade in tight ranges to NAV.

They also offer increased transparency. In addition to disclosing holdings at least daily, they publish the “SEC yield,” based on dividends and coupons the fund collects over a 30-day period. This gives you a true measure of the cash coming in and is a barometer for potential distribution changes.

Broad Markets

Vanguard Intermediate-Term Bond (NYSE: BIV) represents a broad cross-section of the fixed-income market, including both corporate issues and US Treasuries. The fund’s avoidance of mortgage bonds distinguishes it from the pack and gives it a leg up on most of its peers; many competitors’ NAVs suffered huge hits as the mortgage crisis wreaked its havoc.

Although the fund currently yields 4.3 percent, yet its SEC yield is trending lower; expect a slight decline in their monthly payouts. Going forward, the fund’s yield should stabilize at around 4 percent. With moderate rate sensitivity and high credit quality, Vanguard Intermediate-Term Bond is a buy up to 85.

If you have a higher risk tolerance and longer timeframe, SPDR Barclays Capital High Yield Bond (NYSE: JNK) tracks the high-yield corporate market and offers a hefty 11.8 percent yield.

The fund has traditionally maintained a lower weighting in financials than both its benchmark and its peers. Although this allocation has constrained the fund’s yield, it provided a downside cushion in 2008 and enabled the fund to maintain its strong performance.

Based on the SEC yield trend, the fund’s payout is likely to decline in coming months. I expect its monthly payout to settle around 28 cents. That still translates to an attractive 8 percent yield, making SPDR Barclays High Yield a buy up to 41.

If you want the tax advantages offered by municipal bonds but still aren’t comfortable with the potential risk, check out Van Eck’s Market Vectors Pre-Refunded Municipal Index ETF (NYSE: PRB).

Made up entirely of pre-refunded and escrowed-to-maturity municipal bonds, this ETF’s holdings are secured by escrow accounts or trusts that contain US government bonds. Like the iShares offering, this fund isn’t subject to the alternative minimum tax and offers the tax advantages of municipal bonds with essentially no credit risk.

With a tax equivalent yield of 2.3 percent for those in the highest tax brackets and essentially no credit risk, Market Vectors Pre-Refunded Municipal Index ETF is a buy up to 27.

From a more global perspective, iShares JPMorgan USD Emerging Markets Bond (NYSE: EMB) invests primarily in sovereign debt from the full spectrum of emerging markets, though about 15 percent of the fund’s holdings are debt issued by quasi-sovereign entities such as national energy companies.

At 9.1 percent, the Russian Federation accounts for the largest chunk of the fund’s investable assets.

Russia is the largest trading partner of most countries in the region. And since the Russian debt crisis, the country has put its fiscal house in order.

The only holdings of any concern are from Mexico, Venezuela and Columbia, where the political situations are often in flux. Collectively, these countries account for less than 10 percent of assets, limiting the downside risk. Yielding 5.5 percent with plenty of room to run, iShares JPMorgan USD Emerging Markets Bond is a buy up to 108.

Cash Balances

Offering higher yields and a similar investment profile, short-term bond funds are becoming an alternative to traditional money market offerings.

Bond fund giant PIMCO introduced PIMCO Enhanced Short Maturity Strategy ETF (NYSE: MINT), an ETF that generates more income than money market funds.

The fund’s current SEC yield is 0.71 percent, compared to the 0.05 percent yield offered by the typical money market fund. And with an expense ratio of just 0.35 percent, the fund is cheaper than many money market offerings. PIMCO Enhanced Short Maturity Strategy ETF is a parking place for cash balances.

Benjamin Shepherd is editor of Louis Rukeyser’s Mutual Funds and co-editor of Global ETF Profits.