Frugal investors looking for cost-effective exposure to short-term corporate bonds have some compelling options to mull in the world of exchange traded funds. That group includes the SPDR Portfolio Short Term Corporate Bond ETF (NYSEArca: SPSB).
SPSB is arguably overlooked among short-term corporate bond funds, but that should not be the case as the ETF is neither new nor small. The ETF turns nine years old later this year and has $4.28 billion in assets under management.
SPSB corresponds to the price and yield performance of the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. 1-3 Year Corporate Bond Index. The fund’s underlying index “includes investment grade, fixed rate, taxable, US dollar denominated debt with $300 million of par outstanding, and is market cap weighted and reconstituted on the last business day of the month,” according to the issuer.
SPSB History
SPSB is part of State Street’s suite of SPDR portfolio ETFs, a group of low-cost funds designed to be core portfolio holdings for cost-conscious investors. Last year, the issuer lowered the fees on a broad swath of ETFs, including SPSB.
SPSB charges just 0.07% per year, or $7 on a $10,000 investment, making it one of the least expensive short-dated corporate bond funds on the market. The fund holds nearly 1,100 bonds with an option-adjusted duration of 1.91 years and an average yield to worst of 3.21%.
Related: The Next Major Tipping Point in Fixed Income?
According to data from State Street, a substantial number of investors flocked to bond ETFs–while equity and commodity ETFs posted net outflows $5.8 billion and $2.1 billion respectively in June, fixed income ETFs attracted $7.4 billion of inflows during the month. This officially marks the 35th consecutive month of inflows for bond ETFs.
Credit risk is minimal with SPSB as over 44% of the fund’s holdings are rated A and over 39% are rated Baa.
Year-to-date, investors have added nearly $913 million in new assets to SPSB.
For more trends in fixed income, visit the Fixed Income Channel.