This ETF offers broad-based exposure to investment grade U.S. bonds, making GBF a building block for any investor constructing a balanced long-term portfolio as well as a potentially attractive safe haven for investors pulling money out of equity markets. While GBF can potentially be a one stop shop for fixed income exposure, a close look at the composition of this fund is advised. Many may find the significant allocations to MBS and Treasuries somewhat insufficient for their return objectives; increased corporate bond exposure through LQD may result in a better balance and more attractive return. While GBF includes hundreds of individual securities, this ETF actually only holds a fraction of the bonds that make up the underlying benchmark; the sampling strategy employed avoids illiquid issues, but may lead to tracking error. GBF has reasonable levels of liquidity— there are more liquid options out there— but the expense ratio for this fund is pretty low and is among the lowest in the Category. However, for investors looking to avoid compounding costs and tracking error, the broad-based BND may be a better option for U.S. fixed income exposure.
This section compares how balanced and deep this ETF is relative to its peers.
| GBF | ETF Database Category Average | FactSet Segment Average | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Number of Holdings | 3481 | 1467 | 3024 |
| % of Assets in Top 10 | 18.18% | 36.20% | 17.60% |
| % of Assets in Top 15 | 24.27% | 41.28% | 23.82% |
| % of Assets in Top 50 | 46.14% | 59.62% | 47.24% |
| GBF | ETF Database Category Average | FactSet Segment Average | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Large (>12.9B) | N/A | 0.00% | N/A |
| Mid (>2.7B) | N/A | 0.04% | N/A |
| Small (>600M) | N/A | 0.61% | N/A |
| Micro (<600M) | N/A | 0.44% | N/A |
This section compares the P/E ratio of this ETF to its peers.
This section compares the dividend yield of this ETF to its peers.
| GBF | ETF Database Category Average | FactSet Segment Average | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dividend | $ 0.12 | $ 0.07 | $ 0.13 |
| Dividend Date | 2021-10-01 | N/A | N/A |
| Annual Dividend Rate | $ 1.52 | $ 0.98 | $ 2.00 |
| Annual Dividend Yield | 1.25% | 2.07% | 1.96% |
View charts featuring ETF fund flow data.
5 Day Net Flows: 0 1 Month Net Flows: 153.96 M 3 Month Net Flows: 295.24 M 6 Month Net Flows: 36.37 M 1 Year Net Flows: 273.72 M 3 Year Net Flows: 336.55 M 5 Year Net Flows: 177.62 M 10 Year Net Flows: 332.68 MView charts that break down the influence that fund flows and price had on overall assets.
The adjacent table gives investors an individual Realtime Rating for GBF on several different metrics, including liquidity, expenses, performance, volatility, dividend, concentration of holdings in addition to an overall rating. The "A+ Metric Rated ETF" field, available to ETF Database Pro members, shows the ETF in the Total Bond Market with the highest Metric Realtime Rating for each individual field. To view all of this data, sign up for a free 14-day trial for ETF Database Pro. To view information on how the ETF Database Realtime Ratings work, click here.
This section compares the cost efficiency of this ETF to its peers.
| Max ST Capital Gains Rate | 39.60% |
| Max LT Capital Gains Rate | 20.00% |
| Tax On Distributions | Ordinary income |
| Distributes K1 | No |
This section shows how this ETF has performed relative to its peers.
| GBF |
ETF Database
Category Average |
Factset Segment
Average |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Month Return | -2.12% | -1.12% | -1.74% |
| 3 Month Return | -1.58% | -0.73% | -1.55% |
| YTD Return | -2.96% | -0.55% | -2.51% |
| 1 Year Return | -1.82% | 0.68% | -1.66% |
| 3 Year Return | 18.30% | 10.66% | 17.60% |
| 5 Year Return | 15.84% | 7.37% | 14.83% |
The following charts reflect the geographic spread of GBF's underlying holdings.
The following charts reflect the allocation of GBF's underlying holdings.
| Asset | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Sovereign | 61.33% |
| Corporate | 33.45% |
| Municipal | 0.82% |
| Open-ended Fund | 0.79% |
| Preferred | 0.06% |
| Other | 0.05% |
| CASH | 0.0% |
| Warrant | 0.0% |
| Bond Sector | Percentage |
|---|
| Maturity | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Less Than 1 Year | 0.0% |
| 1-3 Years | 0.0% |
| 3-5 Years | 0.0% |
| 5-7 Years | 0.0% |
| 7-10 Years | 0.0% |
| 10-15 Years | 0.0% |
| 15-20 Years | 0.0% |
| 20-30 Years | 0.0% |
| 30+ Years | 0.0% |
| Asset | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Sovereign | 61.33% |
| Corporate | 33.45% |
| Municipal | 0.82% |
| Open-ended Fund | 0.79% |
| Preferred | 0.06% |
| Other | 0.05% |
| CASH | 0.0% |
| Warrant | 0.0% |
This section shows how the volatility of this ETF compares to the peer group ETF Database Category.
ETF Database's Financial Advisor Reports are designed as an easy handout for clients to explain the key information on a fund. Includes new analyst insights and classification data.
Fact sheets are issued by the ETF provider and framed by ETF Database. Information contained within the fact sheet is not guaranteed to be timely or accurate.
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