Until last week, April had been a relatively calm month for new exchange-traded products (ETP), with only 10 funds launched in the first three weeks of the month. But last week, 10 new ETPs began trading, doubling the number of launches for the month. While most of the new funds were extensions of existing product lineups, a few took new and interesting approaches to their markets.

iShares expanded its line of targeted credit-quality exchange-traded funds (ETF) with the launch of iShares Baa-Ba Rated Corporate Bond Fund (NYSE: QLTB) and iShares B-Ca Rated Corporate Bond Fund (NYSE: QLTC). The two new funds join iShares Aaa-A Rated Corporate Bond Fund (NYSE: QLTA), which launched in February. The Baa-Ba fund charges a 0.30 percent annual expense ratio, while the B-Ca fund charges a 0.55 percent annual expense ratio.

Although there are already a number of bond ETFs that divide the fixed-income universe according to broad categories of credit quality, these are the first ETFs to divide the bond market so narrowly. Their unique approach will make it easier for investors to build bond portfolios that are better tailored to their risk tolerances.

Guggenheim also expanded its line of BulletShares fixed-maturity junk bond ETFs with the launch of Guggenheim BulletShares 2016 High Yield Corporate Bond ETF (NYSE: BSJG), Guggenheim BulletShares 2017 High Yield Corporate Bond ETF (NYSE: BSJH) and Guggenheim BulletShares 2018 High Yield Corporate Bond ETF (NYSE: BSJI).

The three new BulletShares ETFs join Guggenheim’s existing lineup of high-yield, target-date ETFs that have maturities ranging from 2012 through 2015. Each ETF in this latest trio charges a 0.42 percent annual expense ratio.

Target-date bond funds are becoming increasingly popular because they enable investors to manage duration risk by building laddered portfolios.  At the same time, they offer the diversification benefits of traditional bond funds. Still, they’re best suited for investors who have a very specific time horizon in mind.

State Street launched three actively managed ETFs, all of which are structured as funds of funds.

SPDR SSgA Global Allocation ETF (NYSE: GAL) currently holds a basket of 16 ETFs and exchange-traded notes (ETN), with a 60 percent weighting toward stocks and a 40 percent weighting toward bonds. The US and Canada receive a combined weighting of 53 percent of assets, while Europe is weighted at almost 26 percent and Asia has a weighting just under 21 percent.

The fund charges a 0.35 percent annual expense ratio and will likely appeal to investors who want to construct simple portfolios using just a handful of funds. Its asset mix should also help dampen volatility while generating modest income.

SPDR SSgA Income Allocation ETF (NYSE: INKM) holds 18 ETFs that focus on income-generating asset classes; these include dividend-paying domestic and foreign stocks, preferred stock, real estate investment trusts (REIT) and investment-grade and high-yield corporate bonds. The fund carries a 0.70 percent annual expense ratio.

Since the fund is brand new, specific yield information is not yet available, but judging by its current holdings it should yield about 5 percent annually.

Finally, SPDR SSgA Real Assets ETF (NYSE: RLY) aims to produce a return greater than the rate of inflation over a full market cycle. To that end, the fund invests in a basket of 13 ETFs and ETNs that hold corporate and sovereign bonds, dividend-paying stocks, real estate and commodities. The fund charges a 0.70 percent annual expense ratio.

Because these are active funds, State Street will rebalance the portfolios periodically in order to maintain exposure to the best relative opportunities. However, these funds do have a couple of shortcomings. These actively managed funds will almost certainly incur heavier trading costs than passively managed funds. And as funds of funds, their expense ratios are misleading because they fail to account for the expense ratios of the underlying exchange-traded products in their portfolios. So while many investors will be attracted to the relative simplicity of these funds, they’ll pay a higher-than-average cost for their convenience.

UBS launched ETRACS DJ-UBS Commodity Index 2-4-6 Blended Futures ETN (NYSE: BLND). The ETN offers exposure to 20 different commodities, while combating contango by spreading its holdings equally between two-month, four-month and six-month futures.

The ETN charges a 0.70 percent annual expense ratio, which is surprisingly cheap when compared to other commodity products. It’s rather unique approach to reducing contango should also be pretty effective as long as the futures curve isn’t unusually steep. However, this approach means the fund is a poor proxy for spot prices.

Finally, Van Eck’s Market Vectors Morningstar Wide Moat Research ETF (NYSE: MOAT) implements Warren Buffet’s popular investment methodology of focusing on companies that have clear-cut competitive advantages that will help them remain market leaders over the long term. These companies’ moats can derive from cost advantages, superior products or large customer bases that face high switching costs.

The fund currently holds 20 well-known American blue chips, with its top holdings including Amazon.com (NSDQ: AMZN), Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) and General Electric (NYSE: GE).

The fund charges a 0.49 percent annual expense ratio and should yield about 2 percent based on its holdings.

Portfolio Roundup

There was no portfolio-specific news this week.