GRNB vs HFSI

GRNBAVanEck Green Bond ETF

HFSIBHartford Strategic Income ETF

In short

GRNB Its peer group is stacked with total-bond-market giants. GRNB goes narrow instead: only dollar-denominated green bonds funding environmental projects, issued worldwide by governments, supranationals and companies. A 2017-vintage specialist at 0.20%.

HFSI A Wellington-run bond fund that roams: high yield, bank loans, emerging-markets debt, rotating as the managers see fit. Benchmarked against the Agg, built nothing like it, and it pays income monthly.

Stated mandate

GRNB The fund seeks to track the S&P Green Bond U.S. Dollar Select Index before fees and expenses. The index covers U.S.-dollar-denominated green bonds financing environmentally friendly projects and issued globally by supranational, government, and corporate entities.

HFSI The Fund seeks current income and long-term total return by investing primarily in domestic and foreign debt securities selected for attractive yield while considering total return.

Why people hold it

• GRNB The mandate is the point: bonds whose proceeds fund environmentally friendly projects, tracked to the S&P Green Bond U.S. Dollar Select Index instead of a generic aggregate benchmark.vaneck.com
• 0.20% a year runs below the typical fund in its category, and it sits in the top quartile of a large aggregate-bond peer group on how closely it tracks and what it holds.
• Global sourcing, dollar pricing: supranational, government and corporate issuers, roughly 500 bonds, all USD-denominated, so no currency translation layered on top.
• Distributions land monthly, and the fund has been running since 2017.

• HFSI Active sector rotation is the whole point. Wellington's sector specialists select across high yield, bank loans and emerging-markets debt, a different engine than an index fund stacked with Treasuries.hartfordfunds.com
• The portfolio does what the prospectus says: domestic and foreign debt picked for yield with total return in mind. Income lands monthly.
• Over a billion dollars in assets and steady daily volume, so getting in and out rarely means wrestling the spread.
• Among the stronger showings in a crowded aggregate-bond field, largely on how closely the holdings match the stated go-anywhere mandate.

Worth knowing

• GRNB Thinly traded next to core bond giants like BND, so spreads and order type matter more here.
• Green describes what the proceeds fund, not an issuer's whole business; the credit still sits with governments, supranationals and companies.
• The screen costs extra: plain aggregate rivals like BND and SPAB list expense ratios near 0.03%.

• HFSI 0.49% a year is real money next to the index staples: BND, SPAB and SCHZ each charge 0.03%. You are paying for a manager's judgment, not beta.
• Junk bonds, bank loans and emerging-markets debt carry credit risk Treasuries do not. Expect it to behave more like a credit sleeve than a core ballast holding.hartfordfunds.com
• It was the Hartford Sustainable Income ETF until 2024, when the name, objective and strategy all changed. Track record from before that reflects a different fund.hartfordfunds.com

Full GRNB profile⁠

Full HFSI profile⁠