Category Review
Municipal bond funds are down for the year after a third-quarter selloff erased the first-half gain
Northern Trust Core Bond ETF
$21.14+0.04 (+0.19%)
- 0.49%
- $165M
- −2.4%
- 4.34%
- 0M sh
- $21.09
- low $20.95high $22.73
The ETF.net BNDC Grade
C
Score 50 out of 100
- 83 of 117
Score 50 of 100 falls in the C band. A is 70 or higher, B 55 to under 70, C 40 to under 55, D 25 to under 40, F under 25.
Cost
The fund’s net expense ratio, ranked against its category.F20 out of 100Rank 92 of 117Mission
Whether the fund did what it promised, tested against its stated mandate.A96 out of 100Rank 64 of 101Risk
How the fund held up when markets fell: downside volatility, drawdowns and tail loss.C42 out of 100Rank 79 of 116Tradability
How easy the fund is to trade: daily volume, and how far its price strays from net asset value.C51 out of 100Rank 58 of 117Holdings
How concentrated the fund is, and how complete and current its disclosed holdings are.D36 out of 100Rank 94 of 116Durability
Whether the fund is likely to stay open, judged by its age, its assets and its issuer’s assets.B59 out of 100Rank 51 of 117
Our read on BNDC
CMost core bond ETFs hand you the index and walk away. BNDC is the opposite: a Northern Trust team building a US investment-grade bond portfolio out of other index ETFs, reweighting it by hand instead of tracking a benchmark.
The Fund seeks total return and preservation of capital. It invests primarily in diversified, U.S.-dollar investment-grade fixed-income securities of varying maturities, including government, corporate, bank, mortgage-backed, and asset-backed instruments.
Why people hold it
- Actively managed, with no index to hug. The adviser assembles the portfolio from passively managed bond ETFs and shifts the mix, so allocation changes are the point, not a tracking miss.flexshares.com
- One clean lane: US dollar, investment grade. Government, corporate, bank, mortgage-backed and asset-backed paper across maturities. No junk tier, no currency wildcard.
- Stated goal is total return plus preservation of capital, and the portfolio has stayed tightly inside that mandate since its 2016 launch. Income is paid monthly.
Worth knowing
- Judgment costs money: 0.49% a year, above the category median and multiples of what plain index aggregates like BND, SPAB and SCHZ charge.
- A small, thinly traded fund. Limit orders matter here, since the spread you pay can swamp the fee debate.
- No benchmark to check it against day to day. What you get reflects the adviser's allocation calls among the underlying ETFs.flexshares.com
BNDC Holdings
- Bonds
- 16
- 99%
- SKOR
Sectors
- Financials100.0%
Geography
- United States100.00%
BNDC Performance
Shows how $10,000 changes over the selected period, with cash distributions reinvested at the closing price on each ex-dividend date.
Not enough history yet.
BNDC$9,755
Returns run to the Oct 12, 2026 close, with cash distributions reinvested. Each period starts on the same date that many months or years earlier. Periods over one year show the average yearly return.
| Period | BNDC |
|---|---|
| Year to date | −2.8% |
| 1 month | −1.2% |
| 3 months | −2.6% |
| 1 year | −2.4% |
| 3 years | +4.3% |
| 5 years | −0.9% |
| 10 years | — |
Calendar-year total return with cash distributions hypothetically reinvested at the ex-dividend date’s closing price. The current year shows year to date.
| Year | Return bar | BNDC |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 YTD | −2.8% | |
| 2025 | +7.2% | |
| 2024 | +0.9% | |
| 2023 | +5.3% | |
| 2022 | −13.5% | |
| 2021 | −2.0% | |
| 2020 | +8.7% |
BNDC in the news
BNDC Dividends
- 4.34%
- $0.92
- $0.07 per share
- Monthly
Distribution history
BNDC Risk
- 5.7%
How it’s calculated: standard deviation
The sample standard deviation of monthly total returns, multiplied by the square root of 12.
Uses up to 36 complete months, with at least 12 required. Total returns include reinvested distributions.
- −0.10
How it’s calculated: Sharpe ratio
Subtract each month’s Treasury-bill return from the fund’s monthly total return.
Divide the average of those excess returns by their sample standard deviation, then multiply by the square root of 12.
Uses up to 36 complete months, with at least 12 required. Each month uses the Treasury yield quoted at the end of the previous month.
- −18.1%
How it’s calculated: maximum drawdown
The largest percentage decline from an earlier peak, using total returns with reinvested distributions.
Uses up to five years through the last close, with at least 12 months required.
- 1.02
How it’s calculated: beta
The beta figure is supplied by FMP. The comparison index depends on the fund’s broad asset class.
BNDC Cost
0.49%
BNDC0.49%
- The middle half of US Aggregate Bond funds
- Median 0.34%
88 of the 113 US Aggregate Bond funds charge less.
Other funds in US Aggregate Bond
- COACPOneAscent Core Plus Bond ETFExpense ratio 0.74%1 year return −2.0%
- CVBNDVident U.S. Bond Strategy ETFExpense ratio 0.41%1 year return −2.0%
- CFIXDFirst Trust Smith Opportunistic Fixed Income ETFExpense ratio 0.65%1 year return −2.5%
- CFIXTTCW Core Plus Bond ETFExpense ratio 0.40%1 year return −1.9%
- CZHOGF/m Opportunistic Income ETFExpense ratio 0.40%1 year return —