Costs

Many of these ETFs designed to protect investors from rising rates also don't come cheap.

The Sit Rising Rate ETF, for example, has an annual cost of about 1.5 percent of assets invested, 15 times as much as the Vanguard Short-Term Bond ETF, which has an expense ratio of 0.1 percent. The AdvisorShares Treesdale Rising Rates ETF also has a hefty price tag, at 1.25 percent of assets.

Those costs, along with the lack of a long track record through different rising rate environments, may make some of these funds a tough sell, analysts say.

The high costs of the ETFs are warranted because the funds go beyond simply buying stocks, said Dennis Rhee, a partner with Treesdale.

"These are mortgage-backed securities and swaps off mortgage-backed securities," Rhee said, in reference to their ETF. "It's not a strategy that anyone can employ."

First « 1 2 » Next