Inside Active by Bloomberg Intelligence Northern Trust’s Abner on Distributing Ladders
Mar 3, 2026
Dave Abner, head of global ETFs and funds at Northern Trust Asset Management, is a seasoned ETF and fixed-income innovator. He discusses the rise of active ETFs and why distributing ladder ETFs were created. He explains how ladders return capital annually for spending goals, the shrinking alpha in fixed income from automation, and evolving muni bond opportunities.
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Choose Wrapper By Outcome Not Label
- Active vs mutual fund wrapper should be chosen by outcome not marketing labels.
- Dave Abner says Northern Trust is wrapper agnostic and selects ETF or mutual fund based on strategy constraints like daily transparency.
Evaluate Strategies By Post Tax Risk Adjusted Returns
- Stop categorizing strategies strictly as active or passive; evaluate on risk‑adjusted and post‑tax returns.
- Abner urges advisors to prioritize after‑tax outcomes and real risk‑return fit rather than marketing buckets.
How FIRE And Goals-Based Investing Sparked Distributing Ladders
- Distributing ladders were inspired by FIRE investors who manually build TIPs ladders and goals-based wealth management at Northern Trust.
- Abner recounts clients wanting predictable yearly cash for goals, so Northern created ETFs that return capital each year and can wind down.