Northern Trust Core Bond ETF
$21.28−0.22 (−1.02%)
- Expense ratio
- 0.49%
- Fund size
- $168M
- 1Y return
- −0.3%
- Yield · Last 12 months
- 4.25%
- Holdings
- 16
- Volume · 30D
- 0M sh
- NAV per share
- $21.47
- 52W range
The ETF.net BNDC Grade
Score 49 of 100 sits in the C band. Bands: A ≥ 70, B ≥ 55, C ≥ 40, D ≥ 25, F < 25; the scale skips E.
Cost
What you pay to own it — the expense ratio plus trading frictions, ranked within its category.FScore 20Category rankMission
How faithfully it does the job it claims — tracking its mandate or index with minimal slippage.AScore 96Category rankRisk
How violently it can move — volatility, drawdown depth, and downside capture versus its category.DScore 36Category rankTradability
How cheaply and easily you can get in and out — liquidity, spread, and premium/discount stability.CScore 52Category rankHoldings
What it actually owns — the quality, breadth, and concentration of the underlying portfolio.DScore 30Category rankDurability
Whether it will still be here — the fund’s assets, age, flows, and issuer staying power.BScore 60Category rank
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
- 104%
- SKOR
Sectors
Geography
BNDC Performance
Shows how $10,000 changes over the selected period, with cash distributions reinvested at the closing price on each ex-dividend date.
Returns run to the Sep 22, 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 | −1.2% |
| 1 month | −0.7% |
| 3 months | −1.3% |
| 1 year | −0.3% |
| 3 years | +4.2% |
| 5 years | −0.8% |
| 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 | −1.2% | |
| 2025 | +7.2% | |
| 2024 | +0.9% | |
| 2023 | +5.3% | |
| 2022 | −13.5% | |
| 2021 | −2.0% | |
| 2020 | +8.7% |
BNDC in the news
ETF.net Research hasn’t filed on BNDC yet — coverage lands here as it’s written.
BNDC Dividends
- 4.25%
- $0.91
- $0.08 per share
- Monthly
Distribution history
| Ex-date | Pay date | Amount per share |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 8, 2026 | Sep 14, 2026 | $0.08 |
| Aug 7, 2026 | Aug 13, 2026 | $0.07 |
| Jul 8, 2026 | Jul 14, 2026 | $0.07 |
| Jun 5, 2026 | Jun 11, 2026 | $0.07 |
| May 7, 2026 | May 13, 2026 | $0.07 |
| Apr 7, 2026 | Apr 13, 2026 | $0.07 |
| Mar 6, 2026 | Mar 12, 2026 | $0.07 |
| Feb 6, 2026 | Feb 12, 2026 | $0.08 |
| Dec 26, 2025 | Jan 2, 2026 | $0.08 |
| Dec 5, 2025 | Dec 11, 2025 | $0.10 |
| Nov 7, 2025 | Nov 14, 2025 | $0.08 |
| Oct 7, 2025 | Oct 14, 2025 | $0.07 |
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.
- −0.11
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.
- −18.4%
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
- The middle half of US Aggregate Bond funds
- Median 0.34%
88 of the 112 US Aggregate Bond funds charge less.