Pacific Investment Management Co. is the latest mutual fund player to see the writing on the wall. The world’s largest manager of bond mutual funds has officially entered the ETF market this week with the launch of its 1-3 Year U.S. Treasury Index Fund (TUZ), which will directly compete with the iShares Barclays 1-3 Year Treasury Bond Fund (SHY).

The new offering is hardly an innovative step forward for the industry. PIMCO’s fund boasts a lower expense ratio than the more established iShares product (.09 vs. .15%), but the TUZ is essentially a repeat offering of the most boring ETF available.

Much more interesting is what PIMCO has planned for the future. There are signs that PIMCO intends to bring its dominance in bond mutual funds to the bond ETF space. It announced Tuesday its filing for six new funds that will track treasuries, including products that will allow investors to track different parts of the TIPS curve for the first time.

And it has already announced its plans for actively managed funds – including those investing in stocks and commodities – which would benefit from PIMCO’s 30 year history of managing assets for investors.

Pimco’s aggressive moves into the ETF industry is just the latest sign that the mutual fund industry is finally coming to terms with its buggy whip status, which has recently included Vanguard’s positioning for iShares and Old Mutual’s plans to introduce ETFs.

There is no word when Pimco’s new funds will start trading. The bond funds announced Tuesday are the following:

• Pimco 3-7 Year U.S. Treasury Index Fund
• Pimco 7-15 Year U.S. Treasury Index Fund
• Pimco 15+ Year U.S. Treasury Index Fund

• Pimco Broad U.S. TIPS Index Fund
• Pimco Short Maturity U.S. TIPS Index Fund
• Pimco Long Maturity U.S. TIPS Index Fund