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Is Inspire Corporate Bond ETF (IBD) a Strong ETF Right Now?
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The Inspire Corporate Bond 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?
The ETF industry has traditionally been dominated by products based on market capitalization weighted indexes that are designed to represent the market or a particular segment of the market.
Investors who believe in market efficiency should consider market cap indexes, as they replicate market returns in a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way.
However, some investors believe in the possibility of beating the market through exceptional stock selection, and choose a different type of fund that tracks non-cap weighted strategies: smart beta.
By attempting to pick stocks that have a better chance of risk-return performance, non-cap weighted indexes are based on certain fundamental characteristics, or a combination of such.
While this space offers a number of choices to investors, including simplest equal-weighting, fundamental weighting and volatility/momentum based weighting methodologies, not all these strategies have been able to deliver superior results.
Fund Sponsor & Index
The fund is managed by Inspire, and has been able to amass over $247.60 million, which makes it one of the average sized ETFs in the Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETFs. Before fees and expenses, this particular fund seeks to match the performance of the Inspire Corporate Bond Impact Equal Weight Index.
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
Since cheaper funds tend to produce better results than more expensive funds, assuming all other factors remain equal, it is important for investors to pay attention to an ETF's expense ratio.
Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.44%, making it one of the most expensive products in the space.
IBD's 12-month trailing dividend yield is 2.27%.
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.
When you look at individual holdings, Lennarcorp. Accounts for about 1.17% of the fund's total assets, followed by Williamscosinc and Edwardslifesciencescorp.
IBD's top 10 holdings account for about 11.47% of its total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
The ETF has added roughly 1.34% so far this year and is down about -0.18% in the last one year (as of 05/24/2023). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $22.24 and $23.95.
The fund has a beta of 0.19 and standard deviation of 5.28% for the trailing three-year period. With about 252 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.
Alternatives
Inspire Corporate Bond 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 $7.32 billion in assets, iShares ESG Aware MSCI USA ETF has $13.41 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.
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Is Inspire Corporate Bond ETF (IBD) a Strong ETF Right Now?
The Inspire Corporate Bond 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?
The ETF industry has traditionally been dominated by products based on market capitalization weighted indexes that are designed to represent the market or a particular segment of the market.
Investors who believe in market efficiency should consider market cap indexes, as they replicate market returns in a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way.
However, some investors believe in the possibility of beating the market through exceptional stock selection, and choose a different type of fund that tracks non-cap weighted strategies: smart beta.
By attempting to pick stocks that have a better chance of risk-return performance, non-cap weighted indexes are based on certain fundamental characteristics, or a combination of such.
While this space offers a number of choices to investors, including simplest equal-weighting, fundamental weighting and volatility/momentum based weighting methodologies, not all these strategies have been able to deliver superior results.
Fund Sponsor & Index
The fund is managed by Inspire, and has been able to amass over $247.60 million, which makes it one of the average sized ETFs in the Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETFs. Before fees and expenses, this particular fund seeks to match the performance of the Inspire Corporate Bond Impact Equal Weight Index.
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
Since cheaper funds tend to produce better results than more expensive funds, assuming all other factors remain equal, it is important for investors to pay attention to an ETF's expense ratio.
Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.44%, making it one of the most expensive products in the space.
IBD's 12-month trailing dividend yield is 2.27%.
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.
When you look at individual holdings, Lennarcorp. Accounts for about 1.17% of the fund's total assets, followed by Williamscosinc and Edwardslifesciencescorp.
IBD's top 10 holdings account for about 11.47% of its total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
The ETF has added roughly 1.34% so far this year and is down about -0.18% in the last one year (as of 05/24/2023). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $22.24 and $23.95.
The fund has a beta of 0.19 and standard deviation of 5.28% for the trailing three-year period. With about 252 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.
Alternatives
Inspire Corporate Bond 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 $7.32 billion in assets, iShares ESG Aware MSCI USA ETF has $13.41 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.