RBC iShares ETFs are comprised of RBC ETFs managed by RBC Global Asset Management Inc. and iShares ETFs managed by BlackRock Asset Management Canada Limited ("BlackRock Canada").
Investors have been pouring back into the fixed income market thanks to the rise in interest rates over the past two years. Now, with yields beginning to ease and further central bank cuts on the horizon, investors are facing a new challenge. How can they find a flexible, easy way to capture higher yields while also managing interest rate risk within their portfolios? One way advisors can help is by offering a solution that allows their investor clients to tailor duration.
Target maturity bond exchange-traded funds (ETFs) hold bonds that mature in the same calendar year as the ETF itself. With that, advisors can manage overall portfolio duration more precisely, which is beneficial in a declining interest rate environment. These ETFs also offer steady income, much like an individual bond, as well as access to a diversified basket of bonds, all in one simple transaction.
“Target maturity bond ETFs allow investors to easily manage their fixed income exposure, duration and maturities to meet their risk and timing needs" says Stephen Hoffman, Managing Director of ETFs at RBC Global Asset Management Inc. (RBC GAM) in Toronto.
There has always been a challenging element associated with bond ETFs in that they don’t have a set maturity
These products have attracted significant asset flows because of their unique characteristics – they mature like a bond, trade like a stock and are diversified like a fund. RBC GAM’s suite of target maturity bond ETFs, has more than $3.5-billion in assets under management.
Mr. Hoffman refers to target maturity bond ETFs as a hybrid fixed income strategy offering the benefits of both individual bonds and traditional bond ETFs.
For example, investors purchasing RBC Target 2026 Canadian Corporate Bond Index ETF (ticker RQO) know the fund’s underlying bond holdings will all mature in 2026. That gives them a clear view regarding the yield to maturity they can expect to receive the moment they purchase the ETF, which is markedly different from traditional fixed income ETFs.
“There has always been a challenging element associated with bond ETFs in that they don’t have a set maturity,” says Yves Rebetez, an ETF expert and co-founder of Global Allocators, an industry consulting firm in Calgary. “They keep on providing exposure to a broad bond index, whereby maturing bonds disappear, and new bonds are added.”
Traditional bond ETFs maintain a fairly consistent duration, which does not change much over time. That’s true whether you own the ETFs for a year or a decade, Mr. Hoffman says. “In contrast, a target maturity bond ETF’s duration naturally decreases over time as you get closer to maturity. That gives you a lot more control over your exposure.”
The fund structure also offers obvious advantages over purchasing individual bonds. Besides the diversification of having exposure to dozens of bonds, these ETFs offer intraday liquidity with tighter bid/ask spreads. “That’s a huge advantage, helping investors to save money,” Mr. Hoffman says.
Using a target maturity bond ETF for each rung involves much less time, effort and cost, while providing greater diversification.
He notes that target maturity bond ETFs aren’t a one-ticket solution for fixed income in a portfolio. Rather, they complement other fixed income holdings and are particularly useful for retirees or other investors with income needs for a specific year.
When a target maturity bond ETF matures, investors see their capital returned to them. This clarity makes executing bond strategies in portfolios “cleaner” for many advisors, Mr. Rebetez says, which is useful for strategies such as bond laddering.
“Typically, a five-year bond ladder requires owning 15 to 20 bonds to be well diversified, which is a lot to manage for many clients,” Mr. Hoffman notes.
Using a target maturity bond ETF for each rung involves much less time, effort and cost, while providing greater diversification.
Compared to using guaranteed investment certificates in ladders, for example, target maturity bond ETFs provide advisors with greater liquidity.
Despite the utility of these ETFs, many investors are still unfamiliar with them. That’s why RBC GAM, which was first to market with target maturity bond ETFs in 2011, works closely with advisors and other investors to boost knowledge around how they can be used.
“We have products that offer Canadian government or corporate bond exposures with maturities ranging from 2025 to 2030. And we recently launched U.S. corporate target maturity bond ETFs with target maturities from 2025 to 2030, so there’s a broad spectrum of offerings,” Mr. Hoffman says.
“We have 13 years of experience managing and maturing these products,” he adds, “and so we can help investors understand how these ETFs behave, especially as they mature.”
Reprinted article written by RBC Global Asset Management Inc. and was published on September 16, 2024 by Globe Content Studio.