Don’t Miss Out on These ETFs

Russel Kinnel: You probably don’t need me to tell you about Vanguard Total Stock Market VTI

or the other giant exchange-traded funds. Let’s instead look at three of the smallest Gold-rated ETFs. I’ve chosen three that are in the $400 million to $600 million range.

Don’t Miss Out on These ETFs

1. Fidelity Limited Term Bond FLTB
2. Vanguard U.S. Quality Factor VFQY
3. Pimco 1-5 Year U.S. TIPS STPZ

Fidelity Limited Term Bond FLTB occupies that useful niche of being one notch up from a money market in terms of yield, risk, and returns. It’s a good place for cash you might need in the next couple of years, but it can lose money unlike a money market fund. The fund has beaten its short-term bond peers by taking on a little more credit and interest rate risk. The fund typically has below-investment-grade exposure of between 5% and 15%. It also owns asset-backed securities. Fidelity has a deep bond team to keep the fund on the right course.

Vanguard U.S. Quality Factor VFQY is a well-designed fund that seeks high-quality stocks across the market cap range. That’s why it ends up in the mid-blend

. The fund screens for quality factors like high return on equity, profitability, and low debt. Quality has fallen on hard times of late, but the fund has actually performed fairly well despite being out of favor. This is a fund you could buy to make your equity exposure a little more resilient in a recession.

Pimco 1-5 Year U.S. TIPS STPZ is a fine way to provide some inflation protection. I like short-term Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities because they don’t have as much interest rate risk as longer-term TIPS. The fund’s expense ratio is just 0.2%. Be sure to put this in a tax-sheltered account like an IRA because TIPS get taxed on all adjustments to rising inflation.

Watch The 3 Biggest Surprises of 2026 for more from Russel Kinnel.