Two New International Bond ETFs: IGOV and ISHG

Two new international treasury ETFs from iShares launched today.

iShares S&P/Citigroup International Treasury Fund (IGOV) seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of the S&P/Citigroup International Treasury Bond Index Ex-US Index.  IGOV Fact Sheet. 

iShares S&P/Citigroup 1-3 Year International Treasury Bond Fund (ISHG) seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of the S&P/Citigroup International Treasury Bond Index Ex-US 1-3 Year Index.  ISHG Fact Sheet.

Both of these ETFs limit their purchases to treasury securities issued in foreign developed markets.  IGOV has a weighted average maturity of about eight years, and is therefore similar to SPDR Barclays Capital International Treasury Bond ETF (BWX).  IGOV concentrates its holdings in 1-3 year securities, making it a short-term offering that is likely to be more sensitive to currency fluctuations than interest rate changes. 

Neither ETF had any trades today, but the bid/ask data suggests that IGOV should start trading at around $96 per share and ISHG at $94.

Further information on the underlying indexes for these two ETFs indicates that data prior to October 31, 2008 are pro-forma.

 

Disclosure:  no positions in these ETFs