IGCB vs SKOR

IGCBCTCW Corporate Bond ETF

SKORANorthern Trust Credit-Scored US Corporate Bond ETF

In short

IGCB Most investment-grade corporate bond ETFs just buy the index. IGCB hires a human: an active manager picking bonds issue by issue across roughly 400 US corporate names, with income paid monthly.

SKOR Most investment-grade corporate bond funds just buy the market. SKOR scores every eligible bond on issuer quality and relative value, then weights toward the winners, and stays in the one-to-under-10-year maturity lane.

Stated mandate

IGCB The fund is actively managed and seeks long-term total return through a diversified portfolio of investment-grade corporate bonds. Its process emphasizes fundamental research and issue selection.

SKOR The Fund seeks to provide pre-fee investment results generally corresponding to the price and yield performance of the Northern Trust US Corporate Bond Quality Value Index.

Why people hold it

• IGCB Active by design. Managers select individual investment-grade corporate bonds on fundamental research instead of taking whatever a benchmark hands them.
• Spreads the bet across roughly 400 US investment-grade corporate bonds, so no single issuer carries the portfolio.
• Income arrives monthly rather than quarterly.
• What it holds tracks what it advertises: an investment-grade US corporate portfolio, consistent with the mandate in its own documents.

• SKOR Rules-based scoring, not just size: the index optimizes toward proprietary quality and value scores instead of handing the biggest weight to whoever borrowed the most.sec.gov
• 0.15% net of a waiver through March 1, 2027 (0.16% gross), below the category median and level with the big brand-name corporate bond funds QLTA (0.15%) and LQD (0.14%).
• Tracking has been tight against its index, and it sits in the upper tier of investment-grade corporate bond ETFs on our review.
• Workmanlike plumbing: trading since 2014, over a billion dollars in assets, roughly 1,300 bonds, each issue $250 million or larger, with monthly payouts.sec.gov

Worth knowing

• IGCB The 0.35% expense ratio is a real premium over index heavyweights like VCIT and USIG, which run at a few basis points. Active selection has to earn that gap.
• A small, thinly traded fund, so bid-ask spreads can run wider than the giants'. Limit orders matter more here.
• Active means the manager's picks drive results, so the portfolio can diverge from the broad corporate index in either direction.

• SKOR Plain-vanilla rivals cost less: SPBO and VTC each charge 0.03%. The scoring screen is what the extra buys.
• Maturities stop short of 10 years, so it skips the long end of the corporate curve and the extra rate sensitivity that comes with it.sec.govflexshares.com
• The record spans two methodologies: the fund switched its objective and underlying index effective April 30, 2020.flexshares.comsec.gov

Full IGCB profile⁠

Full SKOR profile⁠