PIMCO, a recent entrant to the ETF business, has changed two popular short term bond funds to allow for longer date bond purchases. The move will allow PIMCO to earn better yields on its holdings.

PIMCO Government Limited Maturity Strategy Fund (GOVY) has been revised to allow short-dated purchases up to three years, which is a jump of a full year. The PIMCO Prime Limited Maturity Strategy Fund (PPRM) will now be able to purchase bonds out to 18 months, up from 397 days, according to a recent SEC filing.

The change suggests PIMCO will reach further into the yield curve to deliver higher returns to its investors. Yields on three year Treasury notes are 50% higher than their two year counterparts. Both funds are actively-managed.

Peritus Asset Management has filed with the SEC to create its first ETF since aligning with another ETF sponsor, AdvisorShares. Its newest ETF will be an actively-managed ETF centered on the high-yield debt markets.

The Peritus High Yield ETF (HYLD: Quote, Profile, Advanced Chart, News) will invest in corporate debt and loans with good prospects for both high-yield coupons, as well as potentially rewarding appreciation, according the SEC filing. The fund will contain as many as 40-60 debt obligations in a variety of industries without regard for maturity dates. Flexibility with the maturity date reflects the strategy Peritus might employ, which is purchasing long-dated debt that trades at the greatest discount to its face value.

AdvisorShares and Peritus Asset Management reached a deal announced February 18 that would leave Peritus as the sole developer for new ETFs, with AdvisorShares taking the role as an adviser to the fund.

In strengthening its market niche, PIMCO has launched the third addition to its family of actively-managed bond funds. The fund will select top municipal bonds to cater to investors seeking tax-free returns.

The PIMCO Short Term Municipal Bond Strategy Fund (SMMU: Quote, Profile, Advanced Chart, News) will track the Barclays Capital 1-3 Year Municipal Bond Index, an index already in use by iShares, Van Eck, and SPDR. The fund is actively managed, however, in an effort to avoid the issue of front-running trading manipulating the market before the ETF is adjusted each day. PIMCO brought the issue to the forefront of bond ETF investing after it found bond investors were paying substantially higher costs due to the industry’s practice.

The newest ETF contains 26 different bond investments, with nearly $8 million in assets, according to the prospectus. The fund will trade for a reasonable .35% annual expense.

Compared to hedge funds, exchange-traded funds look like a dollar store bargain. Some hedge fund companies, however, are not letting go of the fees, regardless of the platform.

U.K. fund manager Marshall Wace will soon offer retail investors the opportunity to latch onto popular hedge fund strategies via a new ETF. The new fund, which will be named Marshall Wace TOPS Global Alpha ETF, will trade in the US and hold the same positions as Wace’s six existing hedge funds, the Motley Fool reports.

The fund will be actively-managed (Wace’s funds have a turnover as high as 18 times deposits) and will use a proprietary system to evaluate analysts’ upgrades and downgrades. The fund will not lose its hedge fund properties, having decided to maintain a .25% management expense, as well as 1.5% annual charges and a 20% performance fee. The fund may be worth its high price, having posted average annual returns of 10.9%.

Grail Advisors, a quickly growing exchange-traded fund issuer, has hired a former Janus CEO to join the advisory board and expand its grip on the active space. Gary Black will help guide Grail Advisors as it seeks to grow its actively-managed division.

Of all the ETF sponsors, few have taken such large bets on the actively-managed space as Grail Advisors. The company was the first to launch a true actively-managed ETF and has since created a variety of single-manager funds. Grail Advisors hopes Black’s experience with Janus Mutual Funds will help in solidifying actively-managed ETFs as an industry, according to a press release.

The new addition comes just after a new State Street study found institutional investors were required to push exchange-traded funds to the next level. With a well known name joining Grail Advisors, the company thinks the addition will work as an overture to investors and aid Grail Advisors in pinning down the future hot trends of the actively-managed industry.