FIIG vs IGIB

FIIGCFirst Trust Intermediate Duration Investment Grade Corporate ETF

IGIBAiShares 5-10 Year Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF

In short

FIIG A bond picker's fund in the most indexed corner of the market: no benchmark to hug, around 300 investment-grade corporate bonds, monthly income, and a 0.49% fee that tells you a human is doing the choosing.

IGIB A precision tool, not a catch-all: IGIB owns only the 5-to-10-year slice of the US investment-grade corporate market, about 3,000 bonds deep, for 0.04% a year. Trading since 2007.

Stated mandate

FIIG The fund seeks current income and long-term capital appreciation while normally investing at least 80% of its assets in investment-grade corporate debt securities.

IGIB The fund seeks to track an index of U.S. dollar-denominated investment-grade corporate bonds with remaining maturities of five to ten years.

Why people hold it

• FIIG No published index to follow. The managers choose issuers and maturities inside a mandate of at least 80% investment-grade corporate debt.ftportfolios.com
• About 300 bonds spread out single-issuer risk, and the portfolio has stayed closely aligned with the mandate in its own filings.
• Income is paid monthly rather than quarterly, and the fund has grown to a few hundred million in assets since launch.

• IGIB Four basis points a year (0.04%), a fraction of the typical fund in its investment-grade corporate group, and it has tracked its ICE BofA index closely.
• A maturity dial, not a grab bag: this is the 5-10 year rung, with sibling IGSB covering 1-5 years at the same 0.04% fee.ishares.com
• About 3,000 bonds spread issuer risk thin, and income is paid monthly.
• A multi-billion-dollar fund that has been trading since 2007 and changes hands actively.

Worth knowing

• FIIG The fee is the headline: 0.49% a year, against index peers like VCIT and SPIB at 0.03% and 0.04%. Bond picking here carries a real toll.
• Intermediate-duration corporates react to both interest rates and credit spreads, and with a 2023 launch this one has a short history.
• Trading is moderate rather than heavy, so order size and timing matter more here than in the giant index funds.

• IGIB Five-to-ten-year bonds move more with interest rates than short-dated credit such as IGSB's 1-5 year band. That duration is the point, and the trade-off.
• Pure corporate credit, no Treasuries in the mix, so company credit risk rides along with the rate risk.ishares.com
• VCIT sits a basis point lower at 0.03% in the same intermediate-corporate lane.

Full FIIG profile⁠

Full IGIB profile⁠