IGBH vs SPBO

IGBHBiShares Interest Rate Hedged Long-Term Corporate Bond ETF

SPBOAState Street SPDR Portfolio Corporate Bond ETF

In short

IGBH Long corporate credit without the long-bond rate ride: IGBH holds investment-grade bonds maturing in 10+ years, then swaps away most of the duration. 0.14% net of a waiver through February 28, 2027.

SPBO The whole investment-grade corporate bond market in one ticker for three basis points. Most rivals sell you a maturity slice; SPBO owns the lot, and it undercuts other funds tracking the very same Bloomberg index.

Stated mandate

IGBH The fund tracks an index intended to reduce interest-rate risk in a portfolio of long-duration investment-grade corporate bonds, using interest-rate swaps to manage duration.

SPBO The fund seeks investment results that generally correspond, before fees and expenses, to the price and yield performance of the Bloomberg U.S. Corporate Bond Index.

Why people hold it

• IGBH Owns investment-grade corporates maturing past ten years, then layers on up to ten interest-rate swaps of staggered maturities to hold portfolio duration near zero.sec.gov
• 0.14% net of a waiver through February 28, 2027 (0.39% gross): below the category median, and the same net fee as unhedged LQD at 0.14%, derivatives overlay included.
• Trading since 2015 on BlackRock's own hedged index, pays monthly, and the rate-hedge wrapper is a rarity in a category stacked with plain trackers.

• SPBO 0.03% a year against a category median of 0.19%. In bond land, where the yield does the heavy lifting, that fee gap is not a rounding error.
• Thousands of corporate bonds across the full maturity range, so you hold the broad IG corporate market instead of one duration bucket.ssga.com
• Same index, very different tolls: KORP charges 0.29%, JLQD 0.35%, JHCB 0.53%. SPBO sits at the cheap end of that list.
• Running since 2011, pays monthly, and tracks its benchmark about as closely as anything in the investment-grade corporate group.

Worth knowing

• IGBH The swaps target rate risk, not credit risk. Spread widening can still move long-dated corporates, and a series of swaps is an approximate offset, not an exact one.sec.gov
• Gross fee is 0.39%. The 0.14% net rate rests on a waiver running through February 28, 2027, and renewal past that date is the issuer's call.
• Plain corporate bond trackers cost less (SPBO at 0.03%, USIG at 0.04%) for anyone who wants the duration rather than paying to hedge it off.

• SPBO Full maturity range means long-dated paper is in the mix, so the price moves more when rates move than short-maturity peers like IGSB or SPIB.
• Corporate credit only. No Treasuries or mortgages to lean on, so the fund rides the health of corporate borrowers as well as the rate cycle.ssga.com
• Investment grade by design, US issuers only. No high-yield or emerging-market bonds in the basket.

Full IGBH profile⁠

Full SPBO profile⁠