The innovation continues to impress in the ETF industry, particularly in the fixed income corner of the market. Earlier this week, State Street launched two additional bond ETFs, including a fund that targets both major “buckets” of the corporate bond market and a fund that will focus on debt of emerging markets companies.
Under The Hood: XOVR
| XOVR Facts | |
|---|---|
| Average Coupon | 6.56% |
| Average Credit Quality | BA1 |
| Modified Adjusted Duration | 5.70 years |
| Yield To Maturity | 4.89% |
| Number of Holdings | 3,027 |
The SPDR BofA Merrill Lunch Crossover Corporate Bond ETF (XOVR) will seek to replicate the performance of an index that includes both investment grade and junk corporate bonds. Whereas most corporate bond ETFs focus specifically on one “quality level” within the bond universe, XOVR will hold a portfolio comprised of both high and low quality debt securities. In other words, it can be thought of as a stop along the risk/return continuum between funds such as LQD that focus on investment grade corporate bonds and products such as JNK and HYG that target junk bonds.
The XOVR portfolio will be split almost evenly along the risk spectrum; about 47% of holdings are rated below Baa, with the remainder rated Baa or higher. XOVR will charge an expense ratio of 0.30%.
[See the XOVR fact sheet]
Also Launching: EMCD
| EMCD Facts | |
|---|---|
| Average Coupon | 6.29% |
| Average Credit Quality | BAA3 |
| Modified Adjusted Duration | 5.65 years |
| Yield To Maturity | 5.06% |
| Number of Holdings | 455 |
State Street also recently launched an ETF that will tap into corporate debt markets in developing economies, giving U.S. investors another tool to round out the emerging markets portion of their portfolios. The SPDR BofA Merrill Lynch Emerging Markets Corporate Bond ETF (EMCD) will seek to replicate an index that consists of U.S. dollar-denominated emerging markets corporate senior and secured debt publicly issued in the U.S. domestic and Eurobond markets.
While there are a number of bond ETFs that target sovereign debt issued in both dollars and local currencies, EMCD is just the second to target corporate bonds of emerging markets issuers. Earlier this year, WisdomTree rolled out an actively managed Emerging Markets Corporate Bond Fund (EMCB) that was the first to target this corner of the international bond market. The new State Street ETF is index-based and charges an expense ratio of 0.50%, which is 10 basis points cheaper than EMCB.
About 23% of the underlying index is rated below Baa, with the bulk of the benchmark rated Baa (48%) or A (24%).
[see the EMCD fact sheet]
Disclosure: Long EMCB.
ETF Database is not an investment advisor, and any content published by ETF Database does not constitute individual investment advice. The opinions offered herein are not personalized recommendations to buy, sell or hold securities. From time to time, issuers of exchange-traded products mentioned herein may place paid advertisements with ETF Database. All content on ETF Database is produced independently of any advertising relationships. Read the full disclaimer here.
Are you enjoying ETF Database?
Get more articles like this one via our free daily e-mail newsletter or RSS feed.
Get access to special reports including How To Pick The Right ETF Every Time and Seven Simple & Cheap ETF Model Portfolios.
