Designed to provide broad exposure to the Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETFs category of the market, the FlexShares Credit-Scored US Corporate Bond ETF (SKOR Quick QuoteSKOR - Free Report) is a smart beta exchange traded fund launched on 11/12/2014.

What Are Smart Beta ETFs?

The ETF industry has long been dominated by products based on market cap weighted indexes, a strategy created to reflect the market or a particular market segment.

Investors who believe in market efficiency should consider market cap indexes, as they replicate market returns in a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way.

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.

These indexes attempt to select stocks that have better chances of risk-return performance, based on certain fundamental characteristics or a combination of such characteristics.

Even though this space provides many choices to investors--think one of the simplest methodologies like equal-weighting and more complicated ones like fundamental and volatility/momentum based weighting--not all have been able to deliver first-rate results.

Fund Sponsor & Index

The fund is sponsored by Flexshares. It has amassed assets over $707.28 million, making 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 Northern Trust Credit-Scored US Corporate Bond Index.

The Northern Trust US Corporate Bond Quality Value Index measures the performance of a diversified universe of intermediate maturity, US - dollar denominated bonds of companies with investment grade credit quality, favourable valuations and enhanced short-term and long-term solvency.

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.

Operating expenses on an annual basis are 0.15% for this ETF, which makes it on par with most peer products in the space.

SKOR's 12-month trailing dividend yield is 4.68%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

It is important to delve into an ETF's holdings before investing despite the many upsides to these kinds of funds like diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk. And, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

Taking into account individual holdings, Cash (USD_CCASH) accounts for about 1.1% of the fund's total assets, followed by Salesforce Inc Callable Notes Fixed 4.9%-9-15-2031 (79466LAS3) and Bank Of Nova Scotia/the Callable Bond Variable-8.63% (0641598S8).

The top 10 holdings account for about 5.13% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

So far this year, SKOR return is roughly 0.49%, and it's up approximately 6.17% in the last one year (as of 05/11/2026). During this past 52-week period, the fund has traded between $47.84 and $49.50.

The ETF has a beta of 0.22 and standard deviation of 3.72% for the trailing three-year period, making it a high risk choice in the space. With about 1684 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk .

Alternatives

FlexShares Credit-Scored US 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.

State Street SPDR Portfolio Intermediate Term Corporate Bond ETF (SPIB) tracks Bloomberg Barclays Intermediate U.S. Corporate Index and the Vanguard Intermediate-Term Corporate Bond Index Fund ETF Shares (VCIT) tracks Bloomberg Barclays U.S. 5-10 Year Corporate Bond Index. State Street SPDR Portfolio Intermediate Term Corporate Bond ETF has $11.12 billion in assets, Vanguard Intermediate-Term Corporate Bond Index Fund ETF Shares has $66.01 billion. SPIB has an expense ratio of 0.04% and VCIT changes 0.03%.

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.