Category Review
Municipal bond funds are down for the year after a third-quarter selloff erased the first-half gain
First Trust Core Investment Grade ETF
$19.85+0.03 (+0.15%)
- 0.56%
- $2.7B
- −2.6%
- 5.62%
- 0.8M sh
- $19.81
- low $18.76high $21.87
The ETF.net FTCB Grade
C
Score 52 out of 100
- 78 of 117
Score 52 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.F14 out of 100Rank 97 of 117Mission
Whether the fund did what it promised, tested against its stated mandate.A100 out of 100Rank 1 of 101Risk
How the fund held up when markets fell: downside volatility, drawdowns and tail loss.D35 out of 100Rank 94 of 116Tradability
How easy the fund is to trade: daily volume, and how far its price strays from net asset value.B64 out of 100Rank 28 of 117Holdings
How concentrated the fund is, and how complete and current its disclosed holdings are.C48 out of 100Rank 76 of 116Durability
Whether the fund is likely to stay open, judged by its age, its assets and its issuer’s assets.A70 out of 100Rank 35 of 117
Our read on FTCB
CFirst Trust's take on the core bond sleeve: roughly 300 investment-grade bonds, no index to hug, income paid monthly. You pay up for a manager making the calls instead of a benchmark doing it for free.
The fund seeks long-term total return and normally invests its entire investment portfolio in investment-grade securities.
Why people hold it
- Does what the label says. The mandate keeps the entire portfolio in investment-grade securities, and the fund has stayed tightly inside that brief.ftportfolios.com
- Pays monthly, spread across roughly 300 bonds, so income lands on a steady rhythm rather than in quarterly lumps.
- Launched in 2023 and already a multi-billion-dollar fund that trades actively, so size and liquidity are not the weak links here.
Worth knowing
- Fee is the headline trade-off: 0.56% a year, above the typical core-bond fund, while index staples like BND, SPAB and SCHZ charge 0.03%.
- No declared index to measure the manager against. The shape of the portfolio is the team's call, within the investment-grade mandate.
- It sits in the intermediate-term bond lane. Investment grade trims credit risk; it does nothing about the pull of interest rates.
FTCB Holdings
- Bonds
- 720
- 34%
- US 2YR NOTE (CBT) Dec26
Geography
- United States89.95%
- Ireland2.70%
- Canada2.67%
- Mexico1.34%
- Netherlands1.11%
- France0.86%
- Spain0.70%
- Switzerland0.67%
FTCB Performance
Shows how $10,000 changes over the selected period, with cash distributions reinvested at the closing price on each ex-dividend date.
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FTCB$9,744
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 | FTCB |
|---|---|
| Year to date | −3.2% |
| 1 month | −1.7% |
| 3 months | −3.3% |
| 1 year | −2.6% |
| 3 years | — |
| 5 years | — |
| 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 | FTCB |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 YTD | −3.2% | |
| 2025 | +8.1% | |
| 2024 | +2.6% | |
| 2023 | +5.7% |
FTCB in the news
FTCB Dividends
- 5.62%
- $1.11
- $0.08 per share
- Monthly
Distribution history
FTCB Risk
- 5.5%
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.
- −5.6%
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.
- 0.16
How it’s calculated: beta
The beta figure is supplied by FMP. The comparison index depends on the fund’s broad asset class.
FTCB Cost
0.56%
FTCB0.56%
- The middle half of US Aggregate Bond funds
- Median 0.34%
98 of the 113 US Aggregate Bond funds charge less.
Other funds in US Aggregate Bond
- CJPIBJPMorgan International Bond Opportunities ETFExpense ratio 0.50%1 year return +0.5%
- CWABFWestern Asset Bond ETFExpense ratio 0.35%1 year return −2.2%
- CTPLSThornburg Core Plus Bond ETFExpense ratio 0.45%1 year return −1.7%
- CCRUXColumbia Core Bond ETFExpense ratio 0.32%1 year return —
- COACPOneAscent Core Plus Bond ETFExpense ratio 0.74%1 year return −2.0%