ETF Spotlight on the SPDR Barclays International Treasury Bond ETF (NYSEArca: BWX), part of an ongoing series.
Assets: $2.4 billion
Objective: The SPDR Barclays International Treasury Bond ETF tries to reflect the performance of the Barclays Global Treasury ex-US Capped Index, which includes fixed-rate local currency sovereign debt of investment grade countries outside of the U.S.
Holdings: Top holdings include Korea Trasury Bond 3.5 03/10/2024 1.1%, Japan-95 2.3 06/20//2027 0.7% and Korea Treasury Bond 3.125 03/10/2019 0.7%.
What You Should Know:
- State Street Global Advisor’s sponsors the fund.
- BWX has a 0.50% expense ratio.
- The ETF has 682 holdings and the top ten components make up 6.5% of the overall portfolio.
- Credit quality breakdown includes Aaa 31.3%, Aa 46.3%, A 6.9% and Baa 15.5%.
- Country allocations include japan 22.9%, U.K. 7.3%, Italy 6.8%, France 6.6%, Germany 5.4%, Spain 4.6%, Canada 4.6%, Belgium 4.6%, Netherlands 4.6%, South Korea 4.5%, Austria 3.6%, Australia 3.3%, Mexico 2.1%, Ireland 1.8%, Denmark 1.7%, Poland 1.4, Finland 1.4%, Switzerland 1.4%, Sweden 1.2%, Thailand 1.2% and Malaysia 1.1%.
- The fund is up 1.2% over the past month, up 4.9% year-to-date and up 2.8% over the past year.
- BWX is 2.2% above its 200-day exponential moving average.
- The ETF has a 7.34 year duration
- The fund comes with a 1.39% 30-day SEC yield.
- Since the fund tracks local-currency denominated debt, investors will be exposed to currency risks, so currency fluctuations can affect the fund’s returns.
- “International bonds historically have proved to be a good portfolio diversifier,” according to Morningstar analyst Timothy Strauts.
Next page: The latest news
The Latest News:
- Geopolitical tension has pushed investors away from Russian debt.
- “The fear of sanctions is as bad as sanctions themselves. The fear is: what could you do with Russian assets if sanctions get ratcheted up?” Kieran Curtis, a portfolio manager at Standard Life Investments,said in a Reuters article.
- Increased interest in Eurozone debt has pushed yields in European bonds to record lows, the Wall Street Journal reports.
- Economists, though, warn of three concerns, including high debt burdens, reform fatigue and potential weakness in the event of another crisis.
- European Central Bank’s promise to do “whatever it takes” to protect the euro has helped support the European bond market, writes Raoul Ruparel for Forbes.
- European bonds are also strengthening on the low inflation environment.
SPDR Barclays International Treasury Bond ETF
For past stories in this series, visit our ETF Spotlight category.
Max Chen contributed to this article.