FIIG vs SPIB

FIIGCFirst Trust Intermediate Duration Investment Grade Corporate ETF

SPIBAState Street SPDR Portfolio Intermediate Term 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.

SPIB The middle of the corporate bond curve in one ticker: investment-grade company debt maturing in one to ten years, thousands of issues deep, for 0.04% a year. Trading since 2009.

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.

SPIB The fund seeks to track the Bloomberg Intermediate US Corporate Index and provide exposure to U.S. corporate bonds with maturities of at least 1 year and less than 10 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.

• SPIB 0.04% a year sits at the floor of the investment-grade corporate group, a hair off the cheapest name in the top tier (VCIT, 0.03%).
• One fund covers the whole 1-to-10-year span. iShares splits that same range across two tickers (IGSB for 1-5 years, IGIB for 5-10).
• Roughly 5,000 bonds spread single-issuer risk thin, and the fund has tracked its Bloomberg corporate benchmark closely.
• Heavily traded, pays monthly, and rates as one of the stronger implementations in the investment-grade corporate peer group.

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.

• SPIB Pure corporate credit. No Treasuries or agency paper in the mix to cushion a widening in company spreads.
• Intermediate maturities move more on rate swings than a short-dated corporate fund such as IGSB.
• The monthly payout floats with market yields and the bonds the index holds. It is not a fixed amount.

Full FIIG profile⁠

Full SPIB profile⁠