ANGL was the first ETF to provide exposure to “fallen angel” bonds, speculative-grade debt securities that were initially issued with an investment-grade rating but were later downgraded to junk territory. Fallen angel issuers tend to be larger and more established than many other junk bond issuers.
Since these fallen angels were formerly on the cusp of investment-grade status, the group of junk bonds typically has a higher average credit quality than many other speculative-grade debt-related funds. The higher average quality also helped absorb some of the market volatility we experienced last year.
The fallen angel ETF’s credit profile includes BB 77.7%, B 17.4%, CCC 3.7% and CC 0.1%, leaning toward the upper-end of the speculative-grade debt spectrum.
However, the higher quality means that yields are slightly lower than what most junk bond investors are accustomed to. ANGL comes with a 4.96% 30-day SEC yield, has a 6.37 year duration and a 0.35% net expense ratio.
For more information on the fixed-income market, visit our bond ETFs category.