Corporate Bond ETF List: Collect a Steady Income

By Gaurav Sharma, BA | May 22, 2017

Corporate Bond ETFs

Corporate bonds are at times an asset class that is underowned by income investors. This is because they either don’t take the time to research them or are simply unaware of the investment opportunity they present.

A bond investment provides a steady income and must be paid out before any dividend. A company could cut or eliminate its dividend at any time, whereas the same cannot happen to a corporate bond. This makes corporate bonds very useful for achieving your goals, whether it’s early retirement and/or generating an extra source of income.

That’s why the focus of this article will be investing in corporate bonds through an exchange-traded fund (ETF). This is a great investment strategy and is explained further below. Also featured is a list of corporate bond ETFs that trade in the U.S.

What is a Corporate Bond ETF?

A corporate bond ETF is an ETF that invests solely in bonds (debt securities) issues by large businesses. Like most ETFs, a corporate bond ETF adds greatly to a portfolio’s diversity. Holdings include corporations based both in the U.S. and around the world, with some even having exposure to government bonds as well. Most corporate bond ETFs pay an income to unitholders on either a monthly or quarterly basis.

With corporate bonds, the investors are lending the company money for a certain length of time period will receive income through an interest payment twice a year. The payment will end on the maturity date, which is determined prior to the bond being available for trading. A company will generally need the money for business expenses, new investment opportunities, or to strengthen its balance sheet.

The interest rate is based on the company’s credit rating tas determined by Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO), Standard & Poor’s, and/or Fitch Group Inc. The credit rating is determined according to the company’s balance sheet, earnings strength, and business outlook, plus the likelihood of the interest and principal being paid back.

There are two major categories for bonds. Investment-grade bonds pay out a lower interest rate because they are considered high-quality bonds and are likely to return the principal investment at the maturity date. Their credit ratings are normally between AAA/Aaa and BBB-/Baa3. Non-investments bond (junk bonds) are corporate bonds with a credit rating of Ba1/BB+ or lower. As a result, a higher interest rate being paid to investors because they are taking on more risk. The greater risk comes from the higher probability of the company struggling to cover the interest payment and principal by the maturity date.

Features of Corporate Bond ETF Investing

The holding and investments for a corporate bond ETF would be grouped in different categories. However, no matter the holdings within an ETF, its features and benefits are all the same. Below is more details.

1. Professionally Managed

Professionals overlook all the investment decisions made for a corporate bond ETF. This would include things such as deploying capital, selling a position, generating an outlook for how the bond market will perform, and determining how much income to pay investors.

Before an ETF is available for trading, it creates what is known as a mandate–a set of rules that all investments need to follow and use. For instance, one rule could be to invest at least 90% of all the capital, meaning that no more than 10% of cash could be sitting in the accounts. This would also ensure that 90% of capital invested is generating an income.

This gives investors some insight as to what to expect from the investment before going in. The information is available via the issuer’s web site or your brokerage accounts in the research section.

2. Diversification

To invest in a corporate bond ETF is to invest into a portfolio of different bonds. This means you could simply purchase one ETF that contains 20, 50, or even hundreds of different bonds. The bonds that are held depend on the ETF’s investment strategy.

In some cases, there is an benchmark index issued. One reason to use this benchmark is to compare the returns of the corporate bond ETF, which gives insight on how the portfolio managers have performed in regards to their decisions. A benchmark index is also used in some cases with a ETF that tries to duplicate a holding and its excepted price movement and yield return.

Another situation may be where a ETF holds a certain percentage of holdings from the underlying index and the rest of the assets are invested using a different strategy. In this case, the portfolio managers are trying to generate a excess return when compared to the benchmark.

3. Lower Commission Costs

Purchasing a corporate bond ETF requires paying a small commission to the broker. No matter if you are purchasing 100 units of an ETF or 1,000, the same amount of commission would be paid.

Purchasing corporate individually works a bit differently, instead requiring a percentage of the trade amount as a payment. Therefore, the larger the trade in terms of dollar value, the more would be going into the broker’s pocket. Over the long term, it could result in a lower return.

4. Endless Opportunities

There are often many investment opportunities that an investor wants to own, but they either have the money deployed in another investment or don’t have enough capital to purchase all the investments they want. But with the diversification from the many holdings within a corporate bond ETF, this won’t be a problem.

Below is a list of the best corporate bond ETFs that trade in the U.S.

List of Corporate Bond ETFs

ETF Symbol	ETF Name	ETF Issuer	Type of Bonds Held
VRP	PowerShares Variable Rate Preferred Portfolio	Invesco PowerShares	U.S. – Corporate Preferred Stock Floating Rate
BSCH	Guggenheim BulletShares 2017 Corporate Bond ETF	Guggenheim	U.S. – Corporate Investment Grade Ultra-Short Term
IBDJ	iShares iBonds Dec 2017 Term Corporate ETF	BlackRock	U.S. – Corporate Investment Grade Ultra-Short Term
BSJH	Guggenheim Bulletshares 2017 High Yield Corporate Bond ETF	Guggenheim	U.S. – Corporate High Yield Ultra-Short Term
SJNK	SPDR Bloomberg Barclays Short Term High Yield Bond ETF	State Street Global Advisors	U.S. – Corporate High Yield Short-Term
SHYG	iShares 0-5 Year High Yield Corporate Bond ETF	BlackRock	U.S. – Corporate High Yield Short-Term
HYS	PIMCO 0-5 Year High Yield Corporate Bond Index ETF	PIMCO	U.S. – Corporate High Yield Short-Term
BSJI	Guggenheim BulletShares 2018 High Yield Corporate Bond ETF	Guggenheim	U.S. – Corporate High Yield Short-Term
BSJJ	Guggenheim BulletShares 2019 High Yield Corporate Bond ETF	Guggenheim	U.S. – Corporate High Yield Short-Term
HYZD	WisdomTree Interest Rate Hedged High Yield Bond Fund	WisdomTree	U.S. – Corporate High Yield Short-Term
HYND	WisdomTree BofA Merrill Lynch High Yield Bond Negative Duration Fund	WisdomTree	U.S. – Corporate High Yield Short-Term
SFHY	WisdomTree Fundamental U.S. Short-Term High Yield Corporate Bond	WisdomTree	U.S. – Corporate High Yield Short-Term
BSJK	Guggenheim BulletShares 2020 High Yield Corporate Bond ETF	Guggenheim	U.S. – Corporate High Yield Intermediate
BSJL	Guggenheim BulletShares 2021 High Yield Corporate Bond ETF	Guggenheim	U.S. – Corporate High Yield Intermediate
BSJM	Guggenheim BulletShares 2022 High Yield Corporate Bond ETF	Guggenheim	U.S. – Corporate High Yield Intermediate
BSJN	Guggenheim BulletShares 2023 High Yield Corporate Bond ETF	Guggenheim	U.S. – Corporate High Yield Intermediate
BSJO	Guggenheim BulletShares 2024 High Yield Corporate Bond ETF	Guggenheim	U.S. – Corporate High Yield Intermediate
BKLN	PowerShares Senior Loan Portfolio	Invesco PowerShares	U.S. – Corporate High Yield Floating Rate
SNLN	Highland iBoxx Senior Loan ETF	Highland Capital Management	U.S. – Corporate High Yield Floating Rate
FLRT	AdvisorShares Pacific Asset Enhanced Floating Rate ETF	AdvisorShares	U.S. – Corporate High Yield Floating Rate
CMBS	iShares CMBS ETF	BlackRock	U.S. – Corporate Asset-backed
FCOR	Fidelity Corporate Bond ETF	Fidelity	U.S. – Corporate
CJNK	SPDR BofA Merrill Lynch Crossover Corporate Bond ETF	State Street Global Advisors	U.S. – Corporate
ICSH	iShares Ultra Short-Term Bond ETF	BlackRock	U.S. – Broad Market Investment Grade Ultra-Short Term
ULST	SPDR SSgA Ultra Short Term Bond ETF	State Street Global Advisors	U.S. – Broad Market Investment Grade Ultra-Short Term
MINT	PIMCO Enhanced Short Maturity Active ETF	PIMCO	U.S. – Broad Market Investment Grade Short-Term
NEAR	iShares Short Maturity Bond ETF	BlackRock	U.S. – Broad Market Investment Grade Short-Term
FLTB	Fidelity Limited Term Bond ETF	Fidelity	U.S. – Broad Market Investment Grade Short-Term
HOLD	AdvisorShares Sage Core Reserves ETF	AdvisorShares	U.S. – Broad Market Investment Grade Short-Term
ARCM	Arrow Reserve Capital Management ETF	Arrow Investment Advisors	U.S. – Broad Market Investment Grade Short-Term
NUSA	NuShares Enhanced Yield 1-5 Year U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF	Nuveen	U.S. – Broad Market Investment Grade Short-Term
FLOT	iShares Floating Rate Bond ETF	BlackRock	U.S. – Broad Market Investment Grade Floating Rate
FLRN	SPDR Bloomberg Barclays Investment Grade Floating Rate ETF	State Street Global Advisors	U.S. – Broad Market Investment Grade Floating Rate
VRIG	PowerShares Variable Rate Investment Grade Portfolio	Invesco PowerShares	U.S. – Broad Market Investment Grade Floating Rate
AGG	iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF	BlackRock	U.S. – Broad Market Investment Grade
BND	Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF	Vanguard	U.S. – Broad Market Investment Grade
SCHZ	Schwab US Aggregate Bond ETF	Charles Schwab	U.S. – Broad Market Investment Grade
BNDS	SPDR Bloomberg Barclays Aggregate Bond ETF	State Street Global Advisors	U.S. – Broad Market Investment Grade
AGGY	WisdomTree Barclays Yield Enhanced U.S. Aggregate Bond Fund	WisdomTree	U.S. – Broad Market Investment Grade
AGGE	IQ Enhanced Core Bond U.S. ETF	IndexIQ	U.S. – Broad Market Investment Grade
NUAG	NuShares Enhanced Yield U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF	Nuveen	U.S. – Broad Market Investment Grade
AGZD	WisdomTree Barclays Interest Rate Hedged U.S. Aggregate Bond Fund	WisdomTree	U.S. – Broad Market Investment Grade
HQBD	Hartford Quality Bond ETF	Hartford	U.S. – Broad Market Investment Grade
AGND	WisdomTree Barclays Negative Duration U.S. Aggregate Bond Fund	WisdomTree	U.S. – Broad Market Investment Grade
BNDC	FlexShares Core Select Bond Fund	Northern Trust	U.S. – Broad Market Investment Grade
PGHY	PowerShares Global Short Term High Yield Bond Portfolio	Invesco PowerShares	U.S. – Broad Market High Yield Short-Term
VCSH	Vanguard Short-Term Corporate Bond ETF	Vanguard	U.S. – Corporate Investment Grade Short-Term
CSJ	iShares 1-3 Year Credit Bond ETF	BlackRock	U.S. – Corporate Investment Grade Short-Term
SCPB	SPDR Bloomberg Barclays Short Term Corporate Bond ETF	State Street Global Advisors	U.S. – Corporate Investment Grade Short-Term
BSCI	Guggenheim BulletShares 2018 Corporate Bond ETF	Guggenheim	U.S. – Corporate Investment Grade Short-Term
BSCJ	Guggenheim BulletShares 2019 Corporate Bond ETF	Guggenheim	U.S. – Corporate Investment Grade Short-Term
SLQD	iShares 0-5 Year Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF	BlackRock	U.S. – Corporate Investment Grade Short-Term
IBDK	iShares iBonds Dec 2019 Term Corporate ETF	BlackRock	U.S. – Corporate Investment Grade Short-Term
IBDH	iShares iBonds Dec 2018 Term Corporate ETF	BlackRock	U.S. – Corporate Investment Grade Short-Term
IBDB	iShares iBonds Mar 2018 Term Corporate ETF	BlackRock	U.S. – Corporate Investment Grade Short-Term
IBCC	iShares iBonds Mar 2018 Term Corporate ex-Financials ETF	BlackRock	U.S. – Corporate Investment Grade Short-Term
LDRI	PowerShares LadderRite 0-5 Year Corporate Bond Portfolio	Invesco PowerShares	U.S. – Corporate Investment Grade Short-Term
SFIG	WisdomTree Fundamental U.S. Short-Term Corporate Bond	WisdomTree	U.S. – Corporate Investment Grade Short-Term
VCLT	Vanguard Long-Term Corporate Bond ETF	Vanguard	U.S. – Corporate Investment Grade Long-Term
CLY	iShares 10+ Year Credit Bond ETF	BlackRock	U.S. – Corporate Investment Grade Long-Term
IGHG	ProShares Investment Grade-Interest Rate Hedged	ProShares	U.S. – Corporate Investment Grade Long-Term
LWC	SPDR Bloomberg Barclays Long Term Corporate Bond ETF	State Street Global Advisors	U.S. – Corporate Investment Grade Long-Term
LKOR	FlexShares Credit-Scored US Long Corporate Bond Index Fund	Northern Trust	U.S. – Corporate Investment Grade Long-Term
CLYH	iShares Interest Rate Hedged 10+ Year Credit Bond ETF	BlackRock	U.S. – Corporate Investment Grade Long-Term
VCIT	Vanguard Intermediate-Term Corporate Bond ETF	Vanguard	U.S. – Corporate Investment Grade Intermediate
CIU	iShares Intermediate Credit Bond ETF	BlackRock	U.S. – Corporate Investment Grade Intermediate
ITR	SPDR Bloomberg Barclays Intermediate Term Corporate Bond ETF	State Street Global Advisors	U.S. – Corporate Investment Grade Intermediate
BSCK	Guggenheim BulletShares 2020 Corporate Bond ETF	Guggenheim	U.S. – Corporate Investment Grade Intermediate
BSCL	Guggenheim BulletShares 2021 Corporate Bond ETF	Guggenheim	U.S. – Corporate Investment Grade Intermediate
BSCM	Guggenheim BulletShares 2022 Corporate Bond ETF	Guggenheim	U.S. – Corporate Investment Grade Intermediate
IBDM	iShares iBonds Dec 2021 Term Corporate ETF	BlackRock	U.S. – Corporate Investment Grade Intermediate
IBDL	iShares iBonds Dec 2020 Term Corporate ETF	BlackRock	U.S. – Corporate Investment Grade Intermediate
IBDN	iShares iBonds Dec 2022 Term Corporate ETF	BlackRock	U.S. – Corporate Investment Grade Intermediate
BSCN	Guggenheim BulletShares 2023 Corporate Bond ETF	Guggenheim	U.S. – Corporate Investment Grade Intermediate
IBDQ	iShares iBonds Dec 2025 Term Corporate ETF	BlackRock	U.S. – Corporate Investment Grade Intermediate
BSCO	Guggenheim BulletShares 2024 Corporate Bond ETF	Guggenheim	U.S. – Corporate Investment Grade Intermediate
IBDO	iShares iBonds Dec 2023 Term Corporate ETF	BlackRock	U.S. – Corporate Investment Grade Intermediate
IBDP	iShares iBonds Dec 2024 Term Corporate ETF	BlackRock	U.S. – Corporate Investment Grade Intermediate
IBDC	iShares iBonds Mar 2020 Term Corporate ETF	BlackRock	U.S. – Corporate Investment Grade Intermediate
IBCD	iShares iBonds Mar 2020 Term Corporate ex-Financials ETF	BlackRock	U.S. – Corporate Investment Grade Intermediate
IBDD	iShares iBonds Mar 2023 Term Corporate ETF	BlackRock	U.S. – Corporate Investment Grade Intermediate
BSCP	Guggenheim BulletShares 2025 Corporate Bond ETF	Guggenheim	U.S. – Corporate Investment Grade Intermediate
IBCE	iShares iBonds Mar 2023 Term Corporate ex-Financials ETF	BlackRock	U.S. – Corporate Investment Grade Intermediate
PFIG	PowerShares Fundamental Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF	Invesco PowerShares	U.S. – Corporate Investment Grade Intermediate
SKOR	FlexShares Credit-Scored US Corporate Bond Index Fund	Northern Trust	U.S. – Corporate Investment Grade Intermediate
BSCQ	Guggenheim BulletShares 2026 Corporate Bond ETF	Guggenheim	U.S. – Corporate Investment Grade Intermediate
IBDR	iShares iBonds Dec 2026 Term Corporate ETF	BlackRock	U.S. – Corporate Investment Grade Intermediate
FLTR	VanEck Vectors Investment Grade Floating Rate ETF	VanEck	U.S. – Corporate Investment Grade Floating Rate
LQD	iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF	BlackRock	U.S. – Corporate Investment Grade
CRED	iShares U.S. Credit Bond ETF	BlackRock	U.S. – Corporate Investment Grade
CORP	PIMCO Investment Grade Corporate Bond Index ETF	PIMCO	U.S. – Corporate Investment Grade
QLTA	iShares Aaa-A Rated Corporate Bond ETF	BlackRock	U.S. – Corporate Investment Grade
LQDH	iShares Interest Rate Hedged Corporate Bond ETF	BlackRock	U.S. – Corporate Investment Grade
FLCO	Franklin Liberty Investment Grade Corporate ETF	Franklin ETF Trust	U.S. – Corporate Investment Grade
CBND	SPDR Bloomberg Barclays Issuer Scored Corporate Bond ETF	State Street Global Advisors	U.S. – Corporate Investment Grade
HCOR	Hartford Corporate Bond ETF	Hartford	U.S. – Corporate Investment Grade
COBO	ProShares USD Covered Bond	ProShares	U.S. – Corporate Investment Grade
WFIG	WisdomTree Fundamental U.S. Corporate Bond	WisdomTree	U.S. – Corporate Investment Grade
IGIH	Deutsche X-trackers Investment Grade Bond Interest Rate Hedged ETF	Deutsche Bank	U.S. – Corporate Investment Grade
HYG	iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF	BlackRock	U.S. – Corporate High Yield
JNK	SPDR Bloomberg Barclays High Yield Bond ETF	State Street Global Advisors	U.S. – Corporate High Yield
PHB	Powershares Fundamental High Yield Corporate Bond Portfolio	Invesco PowerShares	U.S. – Corporate High Yield
ANGL	VanEck Vectors Fallen Angel High Yield Bond ETF	VanEck	U.S. – Corporate High Yield
HYGH	iShares Interest Rate Hedged High Yield Bond ETF	BlackRock	U.S. – Corporate High Yield
HYLB	Deutsche X-trackers USD High Yield Corporate Bond ETF	Deutsche Bank	U.S. – Corporate High Yield
HYLD	AdvisorShares Peritus High Yield ETF	AdvisorShares	U.S. – Corporate High Yield
HYHG	ProShares High Yield-Interest Rate Hedged ETF	ProShares	U.S. – Corporate High Yield
HYLV	IQ S&P High Yield Low Volatility Bond ETF		U.S. – Corporate High Yield
JPHY	JPMorgan Disciplined High Yield ETF	JPMorgan	U.S. – Corporate High Yield
FALN	iShares Fallen Angels USD Bond ETF	BlackRock	U.S. – Corporate High Yield
HYIH	Deutsche X-trackers High Yield Corporate Bond – Interest Rate Hedged ETF	Deutsche Bank	U.S. – Corporate High Yield
HYXE	iShares iBoxx $ High Yield ex Oil & Gas Corporate Bond ETF	BlackRock	U.S. – Corporate High Yield
WFHY	WisdomTree Fundamental U.S. High Yield Corporate Bond Fund	WisdomTree	U.S. – Corporate High Yield
THHY	VanEck Vectors Treasury-Hedged High Yield Bond ETF	VanEck	U.S. – Corporate High Yield
ISTB	iShares Core 1-5 Year USD Bond ETF	BlackRock	U.S. – Broad Market Short-Term
FTSM	First Trust Enhanced Short Maturity ETF	First Trust	U.S. – Broad Market Short-Term
ILTB	iShares Core 10+ Year USD Bond ETF	BlackRock	U.S. – Broad Market Long-Term
VBND	Vident Core U.S. Bond Strategy ETF	Exchange Traded Concepts	U.S. – Broad Market Intermediate
IMTB	iShares Core 5-10 Year USD Bond ETF	BlackRock	U.S. – Broad Market Intermediate
IUSB	iShares Core Total USD Bond Market ETF	BlackRock	U.S. – Broad Market
AGGP	IQ Enhanced Core Plus Bond U.S. ETF	IndexIQ	U.S. – Broad Market
FIBR	iShares Edge U.S. Fixed Income Balanced Risk ETF	BlackRock	U.S. – Broad Market
BYLD	iShares Yield Optimized Bond ETF	BlackRock	U.S. – Broad Market
GMTB	Columbia Core Bond ETF	Columbia	U.S. – Broad Market
CWB	SPDR Bloomberg Barclays Convertible Securities ETF	State Street Global Advisors	U.S. – Convertibles
ICVT	iShares Convertible Bond ETF	BlackRock	U.S. – Convertibles

Types of Corporate Bonds Held by ETFs

There is a lot of information provided in the corporate bond ETF list above, with the only unknown being the last category “type of bonds held.” These are explained below, which should help greatly with understanding corporate bond ETFs and knowing which are right for you based on the risk and return expectations of the ETF.

U.S. – Corporate Preferred Stock Floating Rate

This group of ETFs is more focused on owning preferred shares of companies. This would be a mix between a bond investment and owning the common shares. Preferred shares have a set interest rate, but the price is traded more like a stock. The rest of the portfolio’s assets are invested in corporate bonds. The focus is only bonds and preferred shares from U.S. corporations. Therefore by owning an ETF like this it will give you exposure to both corporate bonds and the preferred shares market.

U.S. – Corporate Investment Grade Ultra-Short Term

These are funds that own the highest-quality investment-grade bonds issued by U.S. corporations. These bonds have a high probability of returning the principal investments to investors and not misings an interest payment. The maturities range from one to three years.

U.S. – Corporate High Yield Ultra-Short Term

ETFs under this category offer high yields via non-investment-grade bonds (also known as junk bonds) that are issued by U.S. corporations. Only maturities three years or under are owned.

U.S. – Corporate High Yield Short-Term

This is the same investment philosophy as U.S. corporate high yield ultra short-term ETFs, except the bond maturities would be between zero and five years.

U.S. – Corporate High Yield Intermediate

ETFs that hold hold U.S. corporate high yield intermediate bonds offer–surprise!–a high yield. This would be due to the bonds being known as non-investment grade bonds. In order for a bond to be held within these funds it must have maturities of 10 years or less and must be issued by a U.S. company.

U.S. – Corporate High Yield Floating Rate

This group of ETFs is considered very unique investment opportunities for two reasons. One, you would be investing in senior debt issued by U.S. banks, with an opportunity for the interest rate to rise. Second, the return is based on the underlying benchmark interest rate, though sometimes it’s based on the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) or the interest rate set by the U.S. Federal Reserve.

U.S. – Corporate Asset-Backed

These are ETFs with holdings in U.S. corporate assets-based and based on mortgage securities. The securities are backed by a pool of commercial mortgage loans that generate an income. Only investment-grade debt securities loans from U.S. properties are held.

U.S. – Corporate

Any ETF that has holdings in the U.S. corporate bonds has its very own specific objective. For instance, some use options and derivatives to generate a surplus return based on the core investment. Other funds only make investments in bonds with a certain credit rating. I would highly recommend doing some more research before considering owning any of this type of ETFs (though this really goes for any ETF in general).

U.S. – Broad Market Investment Grade Ultra-Short Term

These ETFs own investment-grade bonds from around the world, including the U.S., with maturities of two years or less. The investments despite its variety, these ETFs tend to prefer U.S. companies that trade in the greenback.

U.S. – Broad Market Investment Grade Short-Term

This group of ETFs holds high-quality investment-grade bonds based on companies around the world with maturities of five years or less. The holdings would reflect more to U.S.-based companies. There is no currency risk involved, since only U.S.-dollar-denominated bonds are held.

U.S. – Broad Market Investment Grade Floating Rate

These ETFs only hold investment-grade debt, which is offered by the U.S. banks. Holdings include banks around the world that trade in the greenback. There is also the possibility of seeing the interest rate of the bonds hold interest as well.

U.S. – Broad Market Investment Grade

Corporate bond ETFs under this sub-group only hold investment-grade bonds. The holdings are issued by companies around the world but must be trading in the U.S. dollar. The maturities for this group of ETFs will differ, but most of them are greater than 10 years.

U.S. – Broad Market High Yield Short-Term

This group is similar to U.S. broad market investment grade ETFs. The only difference is that with these, the maturities of the bonds within are three years or less.

U.S. – Corporate Investment Grade Short-Term

ETFs under this group have maturities of three years or less. Only investment-grade bonds traded in the U.S. dollar are held.

U.S. – Corporate Investment Grade Long-Term

This group of ETFs is the same as above, with the exception of the maturities, which in this case are 10 years or more.

U.S. – Corporate Investment Grade Intermediate

Corporate investment grade intermediate ETFs hold bonds that have between five and 10 years left until they mature. Only high-quality bonds that are traded in the U.S. currency are held.

U.S. – Corporate Investment Grade Floating Rate

ETFs under this category are invested in high-quality investment-grade notes/bonds that offer the opportunity to generate a higher interest income as time passes. This increase is based on the underlying interest rate benchmark seeing a change in rates. Only U.S. corporations’ notes/bonds that use the greenback are owned.

U.S. – Corporate Investment Grade

With this group of ETFs, only investment-grade corporate bonds are held. The maturities differ from ETF to ETF, depending on the portfolio manager’s outlook and decisions. This investment will also be neutral on a currency basis because all bonds are accounted for in the U.S. dollar.

U.S. – Corporate High Yield

In this case, only non-investment-grade bonds would be held, with a range of maturities. There won’t be any currency risk involved because only U.S. denominated-bonds are involved.

U.S. – Broad Market Short-Term

The investment criteria for this group of ETFs are a maturity time period of three years or less and that they are trading in the U.S. dollar. Both government and corporate bonds are held within.

U.S. – Broad Market Long-Term

A U.S. broad market long-term ETF is one that is focused on government (both U.S. and elsewhere) investments, non-investment bonds, and cash investments. Only bonds that are traded in the U.S. greenback are owned and they must have a maturity of 10 years or more.

U.S. – Broad Market Intermediate

Holdings within this group of ETFs trade in the U.S. dollar and have maturities of between of five and 10 years. They all differ, with corporate bonds held in the U.S. and global corporate bonds and some in government bonds as well.

U.S. – Broad Market

These ETFs have a mixed portfolio while focusing on U.S. dollar-based bonds. This includes different maturity dates, investment- and non-investment-grade bonds, and government bonds. Each ETF will differ in terms of its weighting in each sub-category; for example, some ETFs hold more corporate bonds and have less exposure to government bonds.

U.S. – Convertibles

ETFs under this category hold both stocks and corporate bonds of U.S. based companies. They start with investing in convertible corporate bonds, with the company and investors having the choice of converting the bonds into the company’s common stock. The conversion ratio for bonds into common stock is determined before the bonds can be purchased. There is still income earned as interest from the bonds and a dividend from common shares, if the business pays one. For more information how these investments work, click here.