BBBL vs LKOR

BBBLCBondBloxx BBB Rated 10+ Year Corporate Bond ETF

LKORBNorthern Trust Credit-Scored US Long Corporate Bond ETF

In short

BBBL Most corporate bond funds hand you the entire ratings ladder. BBBL takes one rung and one maturity band: BBB-rated corporate paper maturing in 10 years or more. A single-cell tool for people who want to set credit and duration themselves.

LKOR Most long-corporate bond funds simply buy the market's biggest borrowers. LKOR scores issuers on quality and value first, then builds a 10-year-plus portfolio, for 0.15% net of a waiver through March 1, 2027.

Stated mandate

BBBL The Fund seeks to track the Bloomberg US Corporate BBB 10+ Year Index before fees and expenses. The index covers BBB-rated, fixed-rate, taxable, U.S. dollar-denominated corporate bonds with remaining maturities of at least ten years.

LKOR The Fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the Northern Trust US Long Corporate Bond Quality Value Index.

Why people hold it

• BBBL Pure slice, no blending: BBB-rated, fixed-rate, dollar-denominated corporate bonds with at least ten years left to run. The label and the portfolio say the same thing.
• 0.19% a year sits right at the median for investment-grade corporate ETFs, so the narrow mandate does not carry a specialist markup.
• Distributions land monthly, matching how most household bills arrive rather than a quarterly drip.

• LKOR Bonds get graded on issuer quality (solvency, profitability, management efficiency) and valuation, then optimized toward the best composite scores and rebuilt monthly.northerntrust.com
• Hard eligibility rules: investment grade, ten-year-plus final maturity, $250 million minimum outstanding per bond. Roughly 800 holdings spread the single-name risk.northerntrust.com
• 0.15% net of a waiver through March 1, 2027 (0.16% gross) lands near the category's typical fee and matches screened peer ZTEN at 0.15%. Pays monthly.
• No style drift. The portfolio holds what the name promises: long-dated US investment-grade corporates, tracked by representative sampling, no credit reaching, no overlays.flexshares.com

Worth knowing

• BBBL Ten-year-plus maturities are the sharp end of rate sensitivity. Price moves per rate shift are far larger here than in short or intermediate corporate funds.
• BBB is the bottom rung of investment grade, one notch above high yield, so downgrade risk sits closer than in AA or A portfolios.
• Small and lightly traded next to broad corporate giants like VCIT and IGIB, which also charge a few basis points. Spreads can be wider on this one.

• LKOR Plain market-weighted rivals cost far less: VCLT at 0.03%, IGLB and SPLB at 0.04%. The credit screen carries the burden of justifying the gap.
• A small fund that trades lightly. On any given order the bid-ask spread can cost you more than a year of the expense ratio.
• Ten-year-plus maturities mean heavy interest-rate sensitivity. Prices move sharply when yields shift, and no quality score offsets that.northerntrust.comflexshares.com

Full BBBL profile⁠

Full LKOR profile⁠