GIGB vs IBD

GIGBAGoldman Sachs Access Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF

IBDDInspire Corporate Bond ETF

In short

GIGB Most investment-grade corporate bond funds just buy the biggest borrowers. Goldman's index screens the market on liquidity and fundamentals first, then spreads the money across roughly 1,600 bonds for 0.08% a year.

IBD The first bond ETF ever built on biblical-values screens. IBD holds intermediate-term investment grade US corporate debt from companies that clear Inspire's rules-based Impact Score, and pays monthly.

Stated mandate

GIGB The Fund seeks to track the FTSE Goldman Sachs Investment Grade Corporate Bond Index, which measures U.S.-dollar-denominated investment-grade corporate bonds meeting liquidity and fundamental screening criteria.

IBD The fund seeks to track the Inspire Corporate Bond Impact Index before fees and expenses. It generally invests at least 80% of assets in the index's component securities.

Why people hold it

• GIGB Costs 0.08% a year, well under the typical investment-grade corporate bond ETF's 0.19%.
• The index screens US dollar investment-grade corporates for liquidity and fundamentals rather than simply following who borrowed the most.gsam.com
• Tracks that index about as tightly as passive bond funds get, and holds roughly 1,600 bonds so no single issuer carries the load.
• Pays monthly, matching how corporate bond coupons tend to land in a portfolio.

• IBD The original of its kind: launched in 2017 as the first faith-based bond ETF, so it has years of live operating history behind the screen, not a back-test.yahoo.com
• The screen is rules-based, not a vibe. Inspire's Impact Score rates companies from -100 to +100 and docks points for exclusionary violations, so inclusion logic is published.website-files.com
• Plain-vanilla plumbing under the values layer: investment grade corporate bonds, intermediate maturities, at least 80% in index components, with income paid monthly.website-files.com
• Rare scale for a conviction fund: assets in the hundreds of millions and moderate day-to-day trading, where most values-screened bond funds stay tiny.

Worth knowing

• GIGB Cheap, but not the cheapest shelf: VCIT, USIG and SPIB run at 0.03% to 0.04%. You are paying a few basis points for the screening.
• Broad-maturity corporate credit moves on two levers, interest rates and credit spreads, so it swings more than short-dated bond funds.
• A mid-sized, moderately traded fund rather than a giant, so trading spreads can run wider than the largest names in the category.

• IBD Conviction costs. At 0.41% a year, IBD runs above the typical investment grade corporate bond ETF, and well above index staples like VCIT (0.03%) and USIG (0.04%).
• Screening out whole industries shrinks the bond universe, so sector and issuer mix can look different from a broad corporate bond benchmark.website-files.com
• Among dozens of investment grade corporate bond ETFs, it sits in the lower tier of the group, mostly on fees and trading friction rather than what it owns.

Full GIGB profile⁠

Full IBD profile⁠