Steve Laipply, Global Co-Head of iShares Fixed Income ETFs at BlackRock, joins Brad Roth on Behind the Ticker to break down BTOT, the iShares Total US Fixed Income Market ETF, and the case for why the Bloomberg Aggregate may be leaving meaningful parts of the U.S. bond market off the table.
Steve oversees roughly a trillion dollars in bond ETF assets. His path into the category started with a moment of personal frustration trying to buy a single Treasury note, which led him to BGI (the iShares predecessor) and into a small team that helped build the bond ETF category from the ground up. enfield council election results 2026 In this conversation he walks through what BTOT includes that the Agg doesn't, how to think about duration extension in a world where money markets still yield in the high threes, and why he believes bond ETF prices function as leading indicators during market stress.
The episode also covers Steve's research on how bond ETFs like LQD alex tuch provided better price discovery than the underlying OTC market during the 2020 stress event, the individual bond vs. ETF debate, how BTOT is built to anchor alongside active strategies like BINC, and how BTOT has held up since launching late last year.
Key topics:
- The structural gaps in the Bloomberg Aggregate and what BTOT captures beyond it
- Duration extension and where bond ETFs sit relative to money market alternatives today
- Why bond ETF prices function as leading indicators during stress, including the LQD case study
- Individual bonds vs. ETFs and when each approach actually makes sense
- BTOT as a beta anchor for active fixed income strategies like BINC
Listen to the full podcast:
Spotify:
Learn more about BTOT and iShares:
Brad Roth is Founder and CIO of THOR Financial Technologies. Behind the Ticker is THOR's weekly conversation with the people building the most interesting ETFs on the market.
THOR Funds, NYSE Arca final jeopardy today Listed.
Learn more:
Subscribe to The Signal newsletter:
