Q: SRLN looks unsafe at first glance. the yield at over 8% p.a. looks high. Morningstar gives SRLN a neutral rating (forward looking) and 2 stars looking backward. Morningstar is often out of date, and there is better information at ETF.com. Your Bloomberg is not available to us commoners.

I ask this this question because bank-owned brokers make it difficult and/or expensive to buy bonds. Information and pricing on bonds are not easily searchable. Every time I force myself to look at asset allocation, the robotic tools I use scream at me that I am mad in that I zero fixed income. This brought me to look at bond ETFs and I acquired some USHY which looked decent, but that doesn’t quieten those pesky AI tools that help self-directed investors.

Is SRLN a reasonable enough proxy to add to the fixed income part of one’s portfolio? Or is it risky compared to other available US$ bond ETFs? I’d welcome substance in your response and if you care to add links to materials that pedestrian investors like me should look at, that could help. Many thanks.

Q: I just came across this quote within an Economist article:

“If you can earn 12%, maybe 13%, on a really good day in senior secured bank debt, what else do you want to do in life?” Steve Schwarzman, boss of Blackstone, a private-investment firm, recently asked.

Are there any bank bonds that you could suggest that would fit in this category?

Q: Hi 5i,
if one was interested in getting exposure to the US or Canadian High Yield Bond market would you lean toward active management or a passive index ETF? I would appreciate some suggestions to further research for both US and Canada markets.