This Is Strange: Just A Few Days After its Debut, PIMCO Is Already Changing The Ticker Of Its Flagship ETF

YouTubeThis is kind of curious.

PIMCO recently introduced an ETF version of the firm's flagship Total Return Fund.

The ticker was TRXT, which isn't that memorable.

Anyway, just a few days after its debut it's changing the name to the much more memorable BOND.

Below is the announcement, and it talks about making the ETF easier to access, which is vaguely true if by "access" you mean remember.

(Via @fed_speak)

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PIMCO To Change The Total Return ETF Ticker to BOND on April 4, 2012
Shift from TRXT to BOND Is Designed to Make Access for Investors Even Easier NEWPORT BEACH, CALIFORNIA (March 28, 2012) -- PIMCO, a leading global investment management firm, will change the NYSE ticker for the PIMCO Total Return ETF from TRXT to BOND on April 4, 2012. The shift from the ticker TRXT to BOND is designed to make it even easier for investors to access the PIMCO Total Return ETF. BOND will continue to be managed by PIMCO’s founder and co-Chief Investment Officer William H. Gross, and will continue to follow the same Total Return strategy. “Our aim is to enable investors to access the PIMCO Total Return ETF easily and conveniently, and we believe that re-naming the NYSE ticker to BOND is another step toward achieving that objective,” said Mr. Gross. The effective date of the ticker change will be April 4. BOND will continue to trade on NYSE Arca and there is no change to the CUSIP. For current investors in the Fund, there is no action required. BOND is designed to be a diversified portfolio of high quality bonds that is actively managed with the aim of maximizing return and managing risk. Some of its potential benefits include:

• Direct access to PIMCO’s portfolio management expertise, including global credit analysis and interest rate forecasting
• Portfolio diversification, income, the opportunity for capital appreciation and excess return in an actively managed, risk-controlled framework
• An investment strategy managed for all market environments, emphasizing both top down macroeconomic analysis and bottom-up issue selection
• Full benefits and flexibility of the ETF vehicle, including intraday pricing, the ability to be traded using limit and stop loss orders as well daily portfolio disclosure and low investment minimum (1 share)

BOND adds to PIMCO’s expanding platform of active and index ETFs that are designed to meet a broad range of investor needs. These solutions include the PIMCO Enhanced Short Maturity Strategy Fund (MINT), which is currently the world’s largest actively managed ETF by assets under management; several actively managed municipal bond strategies and more than a dozen “smart-passive” index ETFs, including the recently-launched Australia, Germany and Canada Bond Index Funds. Smart-passive ETFs incorporate credit analysis to screen out securities that are illiquid or don’t pass other key risk metrics.