Targeting growth across both rising and falling rate environments
Investment Manager
Rate agnostic
Wall Street has consistently shown it cannot accurately predict interest rates. With this in mind, the ETF uses its Shape Management methodology to target long-term performance and consistent growth across both rising and falling rate environments.
Interest rate defence
Many European investors use investment grade government and corporate bonds for their fixed income exposure. We believe these underperform when rates rise. The ETF aims to provide investors with access to sectors we believe will perform well in rising rate environments, alongside sectors that should perform well in a rates down environment.
Diversification
PT Asset Management’s investment process, Shape Management, helps to curate a portfolio that looks very different from its peers, and provides exposure to many niche fixed income sectors.
Government backing
The U.S. government issues and fully backs U.S. bonds, which has historically led to them being considered as a stable investment.
Bonds can potentially reduce risk, as they perform differently from stocks. This can help defend against market fluctuations.
Long-term growth
U.S. bonds may offer consistent long-term growth across a variety of rate environments.
- Oversees PTAM, working with portfolio managers on investment strategy. - 32 years of industry experience - BCom in Finance from Concordia University
- 32 years of industry experience - BA in economics from Indiana University and CFA® charterholder
- 22 years of industry experience - BBA from University of Michigan and MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business
- 29 years of industry experience - BBA from University of North Dakota and CFA® charterholders
- 13 years of industry experience - BS from North Park University and CFA® charterholder
- 23 years of industry experience - BS from University of Kansas and JD from DePaul University College of Law
Performance Trust Total Return Bond UCITS ETF (PTAM) is a U.S. Bond ETF which is actively managed by the expert team at PT Asset Management.
Nearly 30 years ago, PTAMs founders recognised the historical problems with traditional fixed income metrics, such as inaccurate interest rate predictions and yield metrics based on incomplete information and assumptions.
They therefore developed Shape Management, an investment process that addresses these shortcomings by analysing the risk-return profile of a bond’s future cashflow.
The broad allocation strategy involves investing approximately 50% in offensive sectors, and 50% in defensive sectors, as outlined below:
Offensive Sectors (Approximately 50%)
Defensive Sectors (Approximately 50%)
• Nearly 30 years ago, PTAM’s founders recognised the above shortcomings and developed Shape Management, an investment process that addresses each of these shortcomings by analysing the risk- return profile of a bond’s future cashflow.
• Let’s consider two bonds, Bond A and Bond B. Looking at the table overleaf, they seem similar – but Bond B has a higher yield and lower duration. The average investor would say Bond B is the obvious choice. These bonds are from the same issuer and issuance, so no differences in pricing can be attributable to credit.
• But what happens if we compute the total returns of these two bonds (over a three-year horizon) in various interest rate scenarios? Shape Management tells us a different story.
• A is non-callable (no imbedded optionality) while Bond B has a ten-year call. The embedded optional call in Bond B creates an asymmetric total return profile: if rates fall, the bond will appreciate like a 10-year bond and if rates rise, the bond will depreciate like a 25-year bond. As an investor, you want the opposite. A bond to appreciate aggressively if rates fall and depreciate slowly if rates rise.
For illustrative purposes only. Shape Management is a mathematical calculation that analyzes the risk return profile of a bond’s future cash flows. Assumptions: (1) a parallel shift in the yield curve (2) linear rate changes (3) sector specific spreads are held constant across five rate scenarios (4) reinvestment rate consistent with respective sector. More details of security selection and methodology can be obtained by emailing mutualfunds@ptam.com. Sources: Bloomberg, PTAM. There can be no guarantee that any strategy will be successful. All investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Past performance does not guarantee future results.
Performance Trust Total Return Bond UCITS ETF (PTAM) aims to provide exposure to U.S. bonds, while employing PT Asset Management’s Shape Management methodology to target long-term performance and consistent growth across both rising and falling rate environments.
The Active U.S Bond ETF is actively managed by a senior investment team with a deep expertise and proven track record, while using Shape Management to help curate a portfolio that looks different to its peers and provides exposure to many niche fixed income sectors.
The Active U.S. Bond ETF is actively managed by the expert team at PT Asset Management.
In this episode of our “Meet the Manager” series, Sean Dranfield, CEO and Principal at PT Asset Management, explains how an active approach can help navigate today’s fixed income markets.
Sean discusses his background, PT Asset Management’s investment philosophy, and why active bond selection can be an important consideration for investors looking to understand the opportunities and challenges within fixed income.
Key Risks
Past performance is not indicative of future performance. When you invest in ETFs your capital is fully at risk and may not get back the amount originally invested. Exchange rates can have a positive or negative effect on returns. The value of equities and equity-related securities can be affected by daily stock and currency market movements.
As of 30.09.2024
Source: HANetf, data as of 30.09.2026. Please note that all performance figures are showing net data. Performance before inception is based on back-tested data. Back-testing is the process of evaluating an investment strategy by applying it to historical data to simulate what the performance of such a strategy would have been. Back-tested data does not represent actual performance and should not be interpreted as an indication of actual or future performance. Past performance for the index is in [Base currency]. Past performance is not an indicator for future results and should not be the sole factor of consideration when selecting a product. Investors should read the prospectus of the Issuer (“Prospectus”) before investing and should refer to the section of the Prospectus entitled « Risk Factors » for further details of risks associated with an investment in this product. If fund is less than 12 months old, YTD field will be calculated since inception. When you invest in Active U.S. Bond ETFs your capital is at risk.
No. of holdings: 57
Active U.S. bond exposure means investing in a portfolio of U.S. fixed income securities where the manager can make decisions about sectors, duration, yield curve positioning and security selection. Unlike a passive bond index, an active approach is not constrained to simply mirror the largest bond issuers in the market. This can allow the portfolio to look different from broad bond benchmarks, but it also means outcomes depend on the manager’s process and decisions. Investors should review the investment approach, risk controls, costs and portfolio composition carefully.
A total return bond strategy looks at both income and potential capital gains or losses, rather than focusing only on coupon income. Bond returns can come from regular interest payments, changes in yields, credit spread movements and the price behaviour of individual securities. A strategy that prioritises total return may adjust exposures as market conditions change, seeking to balance income generation with capital preservation and price appreciation. Investors should still remember that bond prices can fall, particularly when yields rise or credit conditions deteriorate, meaning capital appreciation is not guaranteed.
Shape Management is a bond selection approach that analyses the risk and return profile of a bond’s expected cashflows. Instead of relying only on traditional measures such as headline yield or interest-rate forecasts, this type of process may assess how a security could behave under different rate, credit and prepayment scenarios. The aim is to understand the “shape” of potential outcomes, rather than focusing on one expected return figure. Investors researching this approach should consider how assumptions are made and how risk is monitored.
Active management may matter because the U.S. bond market is broad, diverse and influenced by changing rates, credit spreads, liquidity and economic expectations. A broad benchmark may be heavily weighted toward the largest issuers, which does not always align with the most attractive risk-adjusted opportunities. An active manager can consider different areas of the market, including government bonds, corporate bonds, mortgage-backed securities, asset-backed securities and municipal bonds. However, active decisions can add risk as well as opportunity, so the process and discipline behind those decisions are important.
Key risks include interest-rate risk, credit risk, liquidity risk, inflation risk, currency risk and sector-specific risks. Bond prices typically fall when yields rise, while credit-sensitive bonds may decline if investors become more concerned about default risk or economic weakness. Some fixed income sectors, such as mortgage-backed securities or structured credit, can also be affected by prepayment behaviour and changes in market liquidity. Investors outside the U.S. should also consider currency movements, especially where exposure is not hedged into their home currency.
Interest rates affect bond returns because bond prices and yields generally move in opposite directions. When market yields rise, existing bonds with lower coupons usually become less valuable. When yields fall, existing bonds may rise in price. The size of this effect depends heavily on duration, which measures sensitivity to interest-rate changes. Longer-duration bonds tend to be more sensitive to rate moves, while shorter-duration bonds are usually less sensitive. Active bond strategies may adjust duration depending on the market environment, but they cannot remove interest-rate risk entirely.
Duration is a measure of how sensitive a bond or bond portfolio is to changes in interest rates. A duration of five years, for example, suggests that a 1 percentage point rise in yields could lead to an approximate 5% fall in price, before considering income and other factors. Duration is not the same as maturity, because it also reflects coupon payments and expected cashflows. Investors use duration to understand interest-rate risk and to compare how different bond portfolios or strategies may respond to changes in market yields. It is an approximation rather than a precise prediction, and the actual price impact may differ, particularly for bonds with embedded options or complex cashflow structures.
Disclaimer: These FAQs have been generated with the assistance of AI and may contain errors or omissions. They are provided for general information only and do not constitute investment advice, a recommendation, or an invitation to buy or sell any investment.
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Active U.S Bond Quarterly Report | July 2026
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Active U.S Bond Monthly Report | July 2026
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Active U.S. Bond Quarterly Report | January 2026
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Active U.S. Bond Quarterly Report | October 2025
Active U.S. Bond Quarterly Report | July 2025
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The rise of active ETFs: How they’re gaining popularity and why it matters
PT Asset Management (PTAM) is a Chicago-based boutique fixed income asset manager that applies Shape Management, a interest-rate agnostic approach to fixed income security selection. PTAM was founded in 2008 by partners of its affiliate, Performance Trust Capital Partners LLC (PTCP).
PTCP provides broker-dealer services for financial institutions, and saw an opportunity to take advantage of the dislocated credit markets in 2008 by leveraging its fixed income expertise and launching a hedge fund. In 2010, PTAM’s first mutual fund, the Performance Trust Total Return Bond Fund (PTIAX), was launched. As of June 30, 2024, PTAM manages over $8B across their 3 mutual funds and newly launched ETF.
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