The Globe and Mail in its Saturday edition highlights specialized bond exchange-traded funds that narrow in on government bonds for risk-averse investors or corporate bonds for those who don't mind taking on more credit risk in an effort to generate higher returns. Globe columnist Norman Rothery writes that the iShares and Vanguard Canadian Corporate Bond ETFs (XCB and VCB, respectively) have shorter durations than the broad market bond funds, slightly lower volatilities over the past year, and gained an average of about 2.3 per cent annually over the past five years. Mind you, they fared poorly in the stock-market crash of 2020 when stability would have been appreciated. Those who don't want to take on as much duration risk can opt for the Vanguard or iShares short-term bond ETFs with tickers of VSB and XSB, respectively. They typically have durations of about 2.7 years and recent volatilities of near 2.2 per cent. While they held up better in the bond crash than their broad-market siblings, they still fell by roughly 6.3 per cent.