The Inspire Corporate Bond ETF (IBD Quick QuoteIBD - 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.

A good option for investors who believe in market efficiency, market cap weighted indexes offer a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way of replicating market returns.

If you're the kind of investor who would rather try and beat the market through good stock selection, then smart beta funds are your best choice; this fund class is known for tracking non-cap weighted strategies.

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.

Methodologies like equal-weighting, one of the simplest options out there, fundamental weighting, and volatility/momentum based weighting are all choices offered to investors in this space, but not all of them can deliver superior returns.

Fund Sponsor & Index

The fund is sponsored by Inspire. It has amassed assets over $243.08 million, making it one of the average sized ETFs in the Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETFs. Before fees and expenses, IBD 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 0.45%, making it one of the most expensive products in the space.

The fund has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 3.40%.

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.

Looking at individual holdings, Vanecketftrust accounts for about 1.48% of total assets, followed by Devonenergycorp. And Devonenergycorp.

The top 10 holdings account for about 5.69% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

So far this year, IBD has added about 0.04%, and is up about 4.41% in the last one year (as of 01/12/2024). During this past 52-week period, the fund has traded between $22.22 and $23.69.

The fund has a beta of 0.22 and standard deviation of 5.47% for the trailing three-year period. With about 248 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

Inspire Corporate Bond ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETFs segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.

JPMorgan Nasdaq Equity Premium Income ETF (JEPQ Quick QuoteJEPQ - Free Report) tracks ---------------------------------------- and the iShares ESG Aware MSCI USA ETF (ESGU Quick QuoteESGU - Free Report) tracks MSCI USA ESG Focus Index. JPMorgan Nasdaq Equity Premium Income ETF has $8.56 billion in assets, iShares ESG Aware MSCI USA ETF has $13.45 billion. JEPQ has an expense ratio of 0.35% 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.