American Century Short Duration Strategic Income ETF

American Century Short Duration Strategic Income ETF (SDSI) is an actively managed bond fund. It mixes investment-grade bonds, high-yield (“junk”) bonds, mortgage-backed securities and preferred stock, and it keeps average duration at three years or less. It aims for more income than a plain short-term bond fund: its trailing yield was 4.81% as of October 27, 2026, paid monthly. The trade-off is a 0.32% expense ratio, well above the 0.14% average for similar funds.

• Over the year to Oct 27, 2026, SDSI returned +2.4%, 3rd of 8 among similar funds.
• Its worst full calendar year was 2024 (+5.6%); its best was 2025 (+6.6%).
• The deepest fall in its price history was 1.3% (May 4, 2023 to Jul 6, 2023), recovered by Oct 9, 2023.

As of Aug 31, 2026, the fund held 412 securities; the ten largest made up 15.77% of assets.

The bonds mature in 13.2 years on average (weighted by size), with an average coupon of 5.21%.

• Over the three months to Aug 31, 2026, investors added a net $74.1M (creations minus redemptions, per the N-PORT report).
• Monthly total returns reported for that quarter: +0.19%, +0.10%, +0.38%.

SDSI does not track an index. American Century's portfolio managers look at where interest rates and the economy stand and where they may be heading. They then pick short-duration debt that meets the fund's credit and maturity standards. Duration measures how much a bond's price reacts to rate changes. With a two-year duration, a 1% move in rates would shift the portfolio's value by about 2%. The fund's weighted average duration must stay at three years or shorter.

The managers can buy corporate bonds, Treasuries, agency and private mortgage-backed securities, asset-backed securities, collateralized loan obligations (CLOs, which are pools of business loans), bank loans, preferred stock, convertibles and bonds paid in foreign currencies. As of August 31, 2026, the fund held 412 issuers. By asset type, 44.8% was in bonds and notes, 29.8% in mortgage-backed securities and 7.7% in preferred stock. The largest single position was a Treasury note maturing in October 2029, at 10.5% of the fund. Next came holdings of about 0.5% each, including a Swedbank perpetual preferred and American Airlines, Herc Holdings and Crown Castle bonds.

The fund may use Treasury futures, currency forwards and credit default swaps to hedge risk or to add return. It trades heavily, with portfolio turnover of 188%, and it can create and redeem shares for cash. Both can lead to taxable capital gain distributions.

• SDSI charges 0.32% a year, versus an average of 0.14% for the similar funds below (6th of 8, cheapest first).
• Using the prospectus's standard example, $10,000 invested would cost about $33 in the first year and $406 over 10 years (assuming a 5% annual return).

SDSI pays monthly and aims for extra yield from corporate, mortgage and preferred securities while keeping interest-rate sensitivity low.

SDSI could serve as an income holding. It paid $2.43 per share over the 12 months to October 27, 2026, a 4.81% trailing yield, in monthly distributions. Its track record is short and calm. The fund launched in October 2022, so it missed the 2008 and 2020 crashes and nearly all of the 2022 bear market. Its weakest full calendar year, 2024, still gained 5.6%. Its deepest drop was 1.3%, from May to July 2023, and it recovered by October 2023, about three months later.

A dip that small would not have forced anyone drawing income to sell at a large loss. But junk bonds, preferred stock and loans can fall sharply in a recession, and this fund has not faced one. Under the SEC's standard example, $10,000 invested costs about $33 in the first year. Past results don't predict future ones, and a plan should look at the whole portfolio, not one fund.

Matched by bond funds with the closest average maturity and issuer mix (N-PORT).