Chris Cook, president of Beacon Capital Management, says when it comes to spreading out bond risk in a portfolio, he likes to use Vanguard index bond ETFs, particularly the B series: Vanguard Short-Term Bond ETF (BSV), Vanguard Intermediate Bond ETF (BIV) and Vanguard Long-Term Bond ETF (BLV).

Cook says all the B-series funds invest in U.S. government, corporate and international dollar-denominated bonds, with the primary difference being the duration, whether its short, intermediate or long.

“We tend to invest in them equally across that spectrum to diversify across the duration,” he says. “They’re fairly diversified but are heavily weighted to U.S Treasurys and other government debt. These are interesting for people who have a much lower risk tolerance.”