GIGB vs SUSC

GIGBAGoldman Sachs Access Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF

SUSCAiShares ESG Aware USD 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.

SUSC Corporate bond beta with a conscience filter: roughly 4,000 investment-grade USD bonds, screened on business involvement and tilted toward better ESG profiles, in one ticker. Trading since 2017, paying 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.

SUSC The fund seeks to track an index of investment-grade USD corporate bonds with positive environmental, social, and governance characteristics in aggregate.

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.

• SUSC Breadth, not a slice. About 4,000 investment-grade USD corporate bonds, so the screen runs across the whole market rather than a narrow corner of it.
• At 0.18%, it sits just under the typical fee in its investment-grade corporate peer group, which is unusual for a screened product.
• The label and the portfolio match: one named benchmark, the Bloomberg MSCI US Corporate ESG Focus Index, and a mandate you can hold the fund to.ishares.com
• Income arrives monthly, from a fund with a track record stretching back to its 2017 launch.

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.

• SUSC The screen carries a price tag. Plain broad investment-grade corporate funds like USIG and VCIT charge a fraction of 0.18% for unscreened exposure.
• ESG Aware is a tilt, not a purge. The index targets better ESG characteristics in aggregate alongside business involvement screens, so familiar large issuers still appear.ishares.com
• Trading is moderate rather than heavy, so spreads deserve a look on larger orders.

Full GIGB profile⁠

Full SUSC profile⁠