First Look ETF: Bitcoin and Oil, Fixed Income, and Bitcoin Bond ETFs

Hello everyone. You're watching the February episode of First Look ETF. We are so glad to have you with us. I'm Stephanie Stanton with ETF Guide and we have a stacked guest lineup on today's show. Here is what is coming up. When commodities and Bitcoin collide, what happens next? We'll examine new ETFs from USCF Investments that offers exposure to both sectors.

Plus, we'll tell you about a pair of recently launched bond ETFs with an active strategy from Whites Investments. And finally, a look at an ETF from Vista Shares designed to amp up income potential with a blend of bonds, Bitcoin, and derivatives. But first, before we go any further, let's welcome Mal Leam with the New York Stock Exchange. Mal, thank you for joining us. It's good to see you.

Always great to be back.

Indeed. Let's begin with the latest update on ETF launch activity. How are we looking as we continue in 2026?

So, January 2026 delivered exceptional momentum for the ETF industry. We saw 85 new ETFs launches hit the market, bringing total US listed ETF assets to 14.1 trillion. While that's down from December's launches, it's important to note that December typically sees elevated activities as issuers rushed to get products to market before year end. Looking at the composition of the launches, more than 80%, that's 69 out of 85, were actively managed ETFs, continuing the trend that we've been tracking.

What's really remarkable is what happened on the flow side. ETFs gathered an impressive $174 billion of new money in January. That's more than the three previous Januaries combined. On the asset class breakdown, fixed income had a record-breaking month with 56 billion in flows, nearly half of that going to actively managed product with a clear bias towards the short end of the curve. Equities brought in $110 billion while thematics gathered $4.4 billion and have now pulled in over 25 billion over the last 12 months.

Wow. And it really is incredible when you hear that this January is surpassing the three previous Januaries combined. Really is amazing. Market volatility, let's talk about that. It has picked up especially in the cryptocurrency space. How is that impacting the ETF market?

Now, we've definitely seen volatility spike in the recent weeks, particular in the crypto space. Bitcoin and Ethereum have experienced significant price swings, which has naturally flowed through to the cryptocurrency ETF segment. Trading volume in digital currency ETFs have surged as investors navigate this volatility. Some taking profits, others seeing buying opportunities.

But the volatility story extends well beyond crypto. The murky picture of the current equity market has driven significant interest in downside protection strategies. We're seeing investors and advisers gravitate towards solution like option-based ETFs that offer protection without abandoning equity exposure entirely. The interesting story really is how ETFs are performing exactly as they're designed across multiple asset classes.

Whether it's crypto ETFs providing regulated access during turbulent times or structured products offering downside protection or active fixed income funds navigating the short end of the curve. The ETF rapper is proving its value proposition. Liquidity, transparency, and the ability to implement sophisticated strategies efficiently.

You know, we have a stacked guest lineup today. Can you tell us more about what our viewers can look forward to on this show?

We have an outstanding lineup this episode. First, Whites Investments will discuss their approach to value investing and how they're bringing decades of active management expertise into the ETF rapper. Vista shares join us to talk about their innovative product development and what they're seeing in the investor demand, specializing in the exposures beyond just the S&P 500. And finally, USCF will share insights on how investors are using commodities and alternative strategies for portfolio diversification in today's uncertain environment.

Our guests will cover portfolio strategies, new products, and the challenges advisors are facing in 2026. You definitely don't want to be missing this.

So many good things happening. ML, thank you so much. Thanks for the update. It is great to see you. Keep up the great work. We'll see you soon. And just a quick reminder to watch FirstLook ETF on Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and Roku. We also simoc cast Firstlook ETF on iTunes and Spotify. So don't miss it.

Bitcoin and commodities finally share the same stage in a newly launched ETF called the USCF Oil Plus Bitcoin Strategy Fund. And that ticker is WTIB. Well, this feels like two very different worlds coming together. One is pure digital scarcity. The other is the backbone of the physical economy. And now they sit inside a single rapper that lets investors tap both forces with just one trade. Well, here to tell us more is John Love, CEO with USCF Investments. John, it is great to see you as always.

Good to see you, Stephanie. Thank you.

So, we're going to begin with USCF's overarching vision for how investors, advisers, and traders should access commodities as well as alternative strategies.

So we think you see a lot of advisers and investors today moving shifting off the old 60/40 model to either a 50 20 or even a 50 2030 where that third bucket is alternatives and we kind of think maybe the first stop in your alternative shopping should be commodities. The reason for that is very simple commodities are have a low correlation to stocks and bonds. So if you're looking for diversification, you don't want to keep all your eggs in one basket, you're looking for a third basket. We think commodities make a lot of sense for that.

Now, we're talking broad commodities here because any single commodity is going to be more volatile. Some commodities are correlated more with the economy with the business cycle. Some are less some are less. But when you put them all together and you have a smart selection methodology then you get the broad benefits of commodities, you get those diversification benefits, you get the historic strong correlation to inflation when that materializes and you know really get what you're looking for in putting something new in your portfolio.

Now beyond commodities there's a whole bunch of alternatives and depending on your expertise or you know who you know if you're using a financial advisor their expertise you have different things available to you there may be a reason to add one thing or another but we tend to go back and say either you know look at broad alternatives try to get an allocation to you know as many broad alternatives as you can in your alternatives allocation or look for that broad commodity selection as a potential first choice. And the only other thing I'd say about that is I you know with stocks and bonds broad indices tend to move together.

Even though even in this last week we've seen you know the Dow and the S&P the NASDAQ do a little bit of different things. They tend to dance together a lot. That's not true with commodities. Commodity indexes can be very different. Commodity strategies can be very different. Our fund SDCI has a strategy that focuses on scarcity. We're looking for commodities that are scarce. We're allocating to sort of that half of the commodity universe and things that are scarce tend to go up over time. So that's worked well for us over the the life of the fund and would encourage people to check it out.

So your firm has introduced several innovative and first of their kind products. the recent launch of the USCF oil plus Bitcoin strategy fund that ticker WTIB it certainly fits into this category. Can you walk us through how the fund works and how it allocates between oil futures and Bitcoin?

Sure. Well, the way the fund allocates is actually very simple and then the way you might use it and the way it works might be a little more complex, but let's start with the simple. Um, what it does is for every dollar that you invest, the fund invests $1 in oil futures and $1 in Bitcoin futures. So, you're basically getting two assets for the price of one. Now, it uses leverage to do that.

But unlike a 2x leveraged fund, say a 2x oil fund or a 2x bitcoin fund, these are two different assets that are not correlated. They actually have close to zero correlation. Now, they're on any any given day, they can move together. So you could have a day where oil's up 1 or down 1% and Bitcoin's down 1 1%. WTIB in that case would be down 2%. You can also have a day where they're both up and they can and you get the the sum of of their returns.

But over time they're not correlated. And there's that makes sense. There's no reason that oil and Bitcoin should move together. No economic rationale for that. So what that does is unlike a 2x fund on one asset, leverage increases your risk. It always does, but it lowers it's lower than it would be on just 2x oil or 2x bitcoin.

Now the advantage of this over say, you know, why would you use this this product is if you think of a tactical allocator, a trader who you know looks at say 10 different markets and the and these are two of them. If you were bullish on both oil and bitcoin, what you might be doing is saying, well, I'm going to put $100 in oil. I'm going to put $100 in Bitcoin. There's $200 that I'm investing. And we're saying, "All right, use the ETF. Uh, give us a hundred mil. Uh, sorry, not 100 million, but $100. We'll invest 100 in in in each."

So, you get that $200 of exposure, but you keep the other $100. You can invest in something else. You can keep it in the bank earning interest, whatever it may be. Um, but it's just an efficient way to use your capital when you want to allocate to those two commodities together.

Mhm. and $100 million is nice, too. [laughter] all right. So, again, expanding on that concept then, how else do you see investors and advisers potentially using WTIB inside their investment portfolio?

I think I'd just expand on on what I said, which is, you know, it it's a way it's an efficient way to to get both. So, if you were looking, I want oil and I want Bitcoin as part of my asset allocation or my or as a trade, here's a way to get both at the same time. And also, you know, just in terms of the the combination of the two. Um maybe they offset each other a little bit so it's not quite as volatile as it as it would be with a with a 2x fund.

But I think it's really that is if you're looking you know you've got your traditional allocation in stocks and bonds broad commodities but you want to maybe overweight to this or that and there's a period of time where you see these these two things is as as being part of that. It's an efficient way to do that and then actually have some cash that you can go invest yet in something else. So, I think that's just the the key word there is efficiency and you know, just making something that's maybe a little interesting for for traders and and tactical allocators.

Makes a lot of sense. John Love, thank you so much for joining us. Keep up the great work.

Thank you very much.

Actively managed bond ETFs are where discipline meets opportunity. They take the vast complex bond market with thousands of issuers, shifting credit cycles, and rate volatility, and they turn it into a vehicle where advisers and investors can make informed decisions. Instead of sitting idle like an index, they can rotate across sectors, upgrade credit quality, sidestep trouble spots, and hunt for yield the benchmarks might miss.

Well, a recently launched pair of bond ETFs from Whites Investment Management aims to help fixed income investors successfully navigate this maze of uncertainty. Right now, we want to welcome Nolan Anderson, portfolio manager and co-head of fixed income with Whites Investment Management. Nolan, thank you so much for being here.

Hi, Stephanie. Thanks for having me.

Oh, you're very welcome. So before we dive into your firm's ETFs, can you familiarize our audience with Whites Investment Management and your firm's investment philosophy?

Whites Investment Management is an independent employeeowned firm based in Omaha, Nebraska. We've been managing fixed income strategies for more than three decades, and our approach has always been grounded in bottom-up research, discipline, risk management, and a long-term perspective. On the fixed income side, we manage approximately 6 billion in assets.

Our short duration strategy has been in place for over 35 years and our core plus strategy has been managed for over a decade. Importantly, these strategies are managed by a team that's worked together for a long time with deep experience across multiple market cycles. That continuity matters. It shapes how we think about credit liquidity and downside risk, especially periods especially during periods of stress.

We spend most of our time at the sector and security level trying to understand what can go wrong and whether we're being compensated for the risk that we're taking. For us, that discipline is especially important in fixed income where protecting capital and managing downside risk are just as critical as generating returns. That same discipline and team-based process underpins everything we do today, including how we think about offering strategies in different vehicles as investor preferences evolve.

Speaking of those different vehicles, the Core Plus Bond ETF, your ticker WCPB and the Multis sector bond ETF, your ticker there, WMSB. They are recent additions to your ETF lineup. So, congrats there.

Um, thank you.

You're very welcome. Both funds are listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Both funds target the bond market, but with slightly different approaches. Can you tell us more about the strategies behind these fixed income ETFs?

Both ETFs are built on the same investment philosophy and research process that have guided our strate fixed income strategies for many years. The difference is the role each strategy is designed to play. The Whites Core Plus Bond ETF WCPB reflects our long-standing approach to core fixed income. an intermediate duration strategy with a flexible mandate that allows us to invest across government securities securitizing structured credit corporate bonds and loans with an ability to invest up to 25% in high yield. It's designed to serve as a core allocation within a fixed income portfolio.

From our perspective, that flexibility is important because the best opportunities in fixed income don't show up in the same places every cycle. The Whites multis- sector bond ETF WMSB takes the same discipline and applies it across a broader opportunity set. By removing a formal cap on high yield exposure, it gives us greater latitude to allocate across credit sectors when we believe valuations are compelling. Over time, we'd expect it to carry higher credit exposure than a core plus approach, but always within the same riskaware framework.

The goal isn't to take risk for its own sake, but to be able to lean into areas of the market where we believe the compensation is attractive. In both cases, we're not changing how we invest. We're applying a wellestablished process across vehicles that increasingly are used being used by advisers to build portfolios.

And speaking of advisers, you kind of touched on it, but how do you then see financial advisers and investors using these fixed income ETFs inside their overall diversified portfolio?

Yeah, we think of these ETFs as tools that can be used thoughtfully alongside other portfolio exposures. How they're used really depends on the role fixed income is meant to play for a given client. The Core Plus bond ETF is designed to function as a core fixed income holding, something that can anchor a portfolio's bond allocation while still allowing for flexibility as market conditions change. For many advisers, that means using it as a foundational allocation within a fixed income sleeve.

The multis- sector bond ETF is more opportunistic by design. Advisers may want to use it as a complement to a core bond exposure for clients who can tolerate more credit risk in pursuit of higher potential returns, particularly when spreads are attractive. It's typically not a replacement for core exposure, but rather a way to add targeted flexibility within fixed income. What's important to us is that regardless of the vehicle, the underlying discipline is consistent.

We're taking an investment approach that's been refined over decades and making it available in formats that align with how advisers and investors are increasingly accessing fixed income today.

And we'll leave it right there. Nolan, thank you so much for joining us here on First Look ETF. We appreciate your time.

Thank you, Stephanie.

Offering firsttime market exposure is a hallmark of the ETF industry's relentless pursuit of innovation. And this is evident by the rise of alternative income funds that seek profits beyond traditional sources like dividends or bond yields alone. Well, a new ETF from Vista Shares offers investors a chance to boost income potential with a unique blend of Bitcoin and bonds. And here to elaborate is Adam Patty, CEO of Vista Shares. Adam, it is so good to see you.

Great to see you, Stephanie. Thanks for having me back.

You are welcome. Your firm has carved out a distinct approach in a crowded ETF landscape. How would you describe the core philosophy that guides Vistas shares ETF design and investment process? And then what makes it fundamentally different from traditional ETF strategies?

Yeah, so look, I've been in the ETF market since O2, so I'm a little bit old school. And you know, we are building solutions to advisers problems. We're looking into the white space. So, Vista Shares does not want to bring out a lot of products. We want to bring out products that hopefully are important and that solve recognized problems for investors.

So, if you you know, if you look across our product line, we're trying to build a family of products across different segments so they can be used in multiple market cycles. So, you starting with our our super cycle growth equity strategies like AIS and PAL which cover AI infrastructure and power infrastructure. Then you go to their target 15 options income strategies which are you know core equity diversifiers with 15% income annually paid monthly. And then finally we launched our bit bonds our first of our bit bond family.

And that's a fixed income alternative designed for investors to get a stable, you know, stable income and hopefully some capital appreciation in a you know a fairly boring bond portfolio that you know if you look at the treasury market over the last couple years it hasn't done much. So um you know we're giving investors a new way to get higher income.

Yeah. I want to wish you a big congrats on your latest NYC listed ETF launch. This is the Vista Shares Bit Bonds 5-year enhanced weekly option income ETF. Your ticker is BTYB. Tell us more about this fund and its unique income strategy.

So, yeah, so talking to investors is very clear. Um, you know, look, everyone owns some fixed income, right? It depends on, you know, how much per, you know, based on your needs. Um, but what was very clear is that, you know, look, treasuries aren't kicking off much income these days. um even with the elevated rates over the most recent history and those are probably coming down to some extent over the next 12 months.

Um you know fixed income is a yield generator but it's also balanced for your portfolio. So when markets get rocky um you know you have the ability for some downside protection which is the hope at least. Um another thing is that so when investors are looking for um income you know they're looking at you know they're looking at fixed income they're looking at different equity option income strategies and you know many of them are still using variable annuities um variable annuities um variable annuities um you know I don't want to take any shots at that industry but it's it's clunky they're expensive advisers are generally turned off by it so we were trying to solve for that so what we did is we created a series of bit bond products um we have four of them um we have a short-term we have a 5year 10ear and a 20-year.

We launched BiddyB, Btyb, which is our five-year, and we chose that because that was the most in demand by advisers. Um, they seem to like to use the five-year bond um, you know, most most pre most prevalently in their in their portfolios. So, what we do there is it's we're 80% treasuries, so 80% duration of 3 to seven years, average of five, and then 20% Bitcoin price movement exposure. So it's 20% Bitcoin, 80% treasury.

Then we use an option strategy to double the yield of the treasuries. So um you know five years are around five, you know, 3.7 3.8% annually. And so we're doubling that. We're targeting 8%. And we pay weekly. So this is not, you know, you don't have to wait quarterly or even monthly for your payment. You get paid weekly with this product.

Yeah. And on that note, it's it does sound kind of appealing. What type of adviser or investor might BDB be appeal to?

Investors, well, there's a couple different use cases. One is clearly as a fixed income alternative, trying to boost your income in your treasury bond sleeve of your portfolio. Um, it's also really good for investors who, you know, want to get into Bitcoin, but don't want to buy it directly or don't want to take, you know, jump in with both feet. It gives you a risk controlled way to get a little bit of Bitcoin exposure. um you know and the returns are dampened both on the upside and the downside of course by your treasuries so it's a little risk controlled which is nicer a lot of advisers

sounds very interesting we'll leave it right there Adam thank you so much for your insights best of success with your latest ETF it's great to have you

appreciate your time

and that does it for today's episode of first look ETF if you enjoyed the show please tell us in the comment section below and by hitting the like button want to give a big thanks to all of our guests along with Mel Leam at the New York Stock Exchange change. Be sure to check out ETF central.com to learn more. I'm Stephanie Stanton with ETF Guide. Thank you so much for watching. We'll see you next time.