I haven’t added them up yet, but it seems to me that 2009 has been the year of the bond ETF, with many of the new product launches this year falling into the bond category. Two more new bond ETFs joined the parade yesterday (12/9/09) with the launch of iShares 10+ Year Credit Bond Fund (CLY) and iShares 10+ Year Government/Credit Bond Fund (GLJ).
The fund descriptions and sector breakdowns lead me to believe that CLY is a subset of GLJ. As the names imply, CLY is “credit” only while GLJ is a “government/credit” combination. GLJ looks to have about half of its holdings duplicate those of CLY with the other half being a mixture of long-term Treasury and Agency bonds. Both funds will have an expense ratio of 0.2%.
iShares 10+ Year Credit Bond Fund (CLY) (CLY overview) invests in long-term, investment-grade US corporate and Yankee bonds in the BofA Merrill Lynch 10+ Year US Corporate & Yankees Index. The CLY fact sheet shows sector allocations of Industrials 56.7%, Financials 19.8%, Supranationals 12.5%, and Utilities 11.0%. US holdings are at 71.2%, with Canada 5.7%, and Brazil 3.3%.
iShares 10+ Year Government/Credit Bond Fund (GLJ) (GLJ overview) invests in long-term, investment-grade US corporate and government bonds in the BofA Merrill Lynch 10+ Year US Corporate & Government Index. The GLJ fact sheet shows sector allocations of Sovereign 41.2%, Industrials 28.9%, Financials 10.1%, Supranationals 14.1%, and Utilities 5.6%. US holdings are at 85.3%, with Canada 2.9%, and Brazil 1.7%.
Disclosure covering writer, editor, publisher, and affiliates: No positions in any of the securities mentioned. No positions in any of the companies or ETF sponsors mentioned. No income, revenue, or other compensation (either directly or indirectly) received from, or on behalf of, any of the companies or ETF sponsors mentioned.