2 Low-Volatility ETFs Built for the Choppy Market We Are Seeing in April 2026

April has been afloat of surprises the past fewer years, and not needfully bully ones. Two years ago, the S&P 500 fell 4% successful April arsenic ostentation rates remained precocious and expectations for complaint cuts dropped. Last year, President Donald Trump's Liberation Day tariffs threw the markets into a tizzy, arsenic stocks tanked aboriginal successful the period lone to retrieve connected a tariff intermission aboriginal successful the month.

This year, markets are dealing with warfare successful Iran and geopolitical uncertainty that are impacting vigor prices and could person knock-on effects passim the economy.

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One happening the marketplace hates is uncertainty, and we person it successful spades close now. That means you could spell bargain hunting for inexpensive stocks with precocious upside, but it besides means that it's omniscient to person immoderate ballast successful your portfolio -- investments that are safe, debased successful volatility, and made to navigate choppy markets.

Here are 2 exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that are built for these highly uncertain times.

In uncertain markets, it is bully to person an ETF that is actively managed, due to the fact that the portfolio absorption squad tin marque changes to the money to creaseless retired the short-term volatility portion maintaining semipermanent performance. The Federated Hermes U.S. Strategic Dividend ETF (NYSEMKT: FDV) is 1 actively managed ETF that does conscionable that.

The money absorption squad focuses connected stocks that make income and semipermanent superior appreciation, investing chiefly successful high-dividend-paying U.S. stocks with dividend maturation potential. High dividend yields are captious successful down markets due to the fact that they supply the imaginable for higher returns erstwhile they are invested backmost into the ETF.

Plus, the dividend-paying stocks are often unchangeable investments -- worth stocks that thin to execute good erstwhile the broader markets bash not. Currently, the apical 3 holdings are Paychex, Chevron, and PNC Financial.

The portfolio has a beta of 0.59, which means it is importantly little volatile than the wide marketplace based connected the designated baseline beta of 1. So, erstwhile the marketplace drops, say, 10%, this ETF would driblet astir 6%.

The ETF's returns are besides strong. While the ETF doesn't yet person a five-year way record, it is up 7.5% twelvemonth to date, 12.5% implicit the past 12 months, and 11.5% connected mean implicit the past 3 years.

I wrote astir the merits of the Franklin International Low Volatility High Dividend ETF (NYSEMKT: LVHI) successful March, and it remains a large enactment successful April.