Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Is Inspire Corporate Bond Impact ETF (IBD) a Strong ETF Right Now?

Read MoreHide Full Article

The Inspire Corporate Bond Impact ETF (IBD - Free Report) was launched on 07/10/2017, and is a smart beta exchange traded fund designed to offer broad exposure to the Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETFs category of the market.

What Are Smart Beta ETFs?

For a long time now, the ETF industry has been flooded with products based on market capitalization weighted indexes, which are designed to represent the broader market or a particular market segment.

Because market cap weighted indexes provide a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way of replicating market returns, they work well for investors who believe in market efficiency.

On the other hand, some investors who believe that it is possible to beat the market by superior stock selection opt to invest in another class of funds that track non-cap weighted strategies--popularly known as smart beta.

Based on specific fundamental characteristics, or a combination of such, these indexes attempt to pick stocks that have a better chance of risk-return performance.

The smart beta space gives investors many different choices, from equal-weighting, one of the simplest strategies, to more complicated ones like fundamental and volatility/momentum based weighting. However, not all of these methodologies have been able to deliver remarkable returns.

Fund Sponsor & Index

IBD is managed by Inspire, and this fund has amassed over $227.24 million, which makes it one of the average sized ETFs in the Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETFs. IBD seeks to match the performance of the Inspire Corporate Bond Impact Equal Weight Index before fees and expenses.

The Inspire Corporate Bond Impact Equal Weight Index is comprised of 250 investment grade, intermediate term corporate bonds issued by some of the most inspiring large cap blue chip companies in the United States.

Cost & Other Expenses

Investors should also pay attention to an ETF's expense ratio. Lower cost products will produce better results than those with a higher cost, assuming all other metrics remain the same.

With one of the most expensive products in the space, this ETF has annual operating expenses of 0.49%.

The fund has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.32%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

While ETFs offer diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk, a deep look into a fund's holdings is a valuable exercise. And, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

Taking into account individual holdings, Usd accounts for about 4.01% of the fund's total assets, followed by Cboeglobalmarketsinc.3.6501/12/27 (12503MAA6) and Parker-Hannifincorp.31/406/14/29 (701094AN4).

The top 10 holdings account for about 13.08% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

The ETF has lost about -3.52% and is down about -3.52% so far this year and in the past one year (as of 03/10/2022), respectively. IBD has traded between $24.70 and $26.52 during this last 52-week period.

The ETF has a beta of 0.16 and standard deviation of 7.82% for the trailing three-year period. With about 226 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

Inspire Corporate Bond Impact ETF is not a suitable option for investors seeking to outperform the Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETFs segment of the market. Instead, there are other ETFs in the space which investors should consider.

IShares ESG Aware MSCI EAFE ETF (ESGD - Free Report) tracks MSCI EAFE ESG Focus Index and the iShares ESG Aware MSCI USA ETF (ESGU - Free Report) tracks MSCI USA ESG Focus Index. IShares ESG Aware MSCI EAFE ETF has $6.98 billion in assets, iShares ESG Aware MSCI USA ETF has $23.22 billion. ESGD has an expense ratio of 0.20% and ESGU charges 0.15%.

Investors looking for cheaper and lower-risk options should consider traditional market cap weighted ETFs that aim to match the returns of the Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETFs.

Bottom Line

To learn more about this product and other ETFs, screen for products that match your investment objectives and read articles on latest developments in the ETF investing universe, please visit Zacks ETF Center.

Published in