Key Highlights

  • The fund is about $106.13 million in size and holds 1,171 companies and issuers.
  • The United States accounts for 31.39% of the portfolio, with France at 14.09% and the United Kingdom at 11.60%.
  • The management fee is 0.49%, and the fund targets monthly distributions.
  • Interest rate risk is generally hedged through Derivatives such as swaps and futures.

Macquarie Income Opportunities Active ETF (ASX:MQIO) provides exposure to a wide range of domestic and global Investment grade floating and fixed rate instruments, asset-backed securities and cash. The units were listed at $10.61, the fund is about $106.13 million in size, and the management fee is 0.49%. Because the fund has a broad global mandate, its portfolio looks quite different from the Australian bond ETFs in this series, and the benchmark is an Australian bank bond index rather than a measure of the fund's full opportunity set.

Ticker

ASX:MQIO

Listed price

$10.61

Fund size

$106.13 million

Management fee

0.49%

Benchmark

Bloomberg AusBond Bank 0+Y TR AUD

Holdings

1,171 companies

Portfolio make-up

Bonds make up 86.25% of the fund, with cash at 7.20%, stocks at 3.97% and other Assets at 4.22%. The geographic spread is heavily international: the United States at 31.39%, France at 14.09%, the United Kingdom at 11.60%, Switzerland at 7.68%, Germany at 6.16%, Spain at 4.98% and Italy at 4.78%. Australia accounts for only 15.71%.

The top ten holdings make up 11.52%. They include National Australia Bank, Nextera Energy Capital, ANZ, Commonwealth Bank, UBS Group and Deutsche Bank bonds, each in the 0.6% to 1.9% range.

Income and costs

The management fee is 0.49%, which is higher than the passive Australian bond funds. The listing shows no annual yield, but the fund targets monthly distributions. Interest Rate risk is generally hedged through swaps and futures, which means the fund's income is driven more by Credit and currency decisions than by rate moves.

Risks to weigh

The fund's broad mandate brings credit, currency and derivative risks in addition to interest rate risk. Currency hedges may not fully offset movements, and derivative positions carry counterparty and operational risk. Because the fund holds more than a thousand issuers, its results depend heavily on the manager's allocation across sectors and markets.

Final Word

The Macquarie Income Opportunities Active ETF offers an actively managed, globally diversified income portfolio with a high international weighting. Its use of derivatives and wide mandate mean investors need to understand currency, credit and derivative exposures before considering the fund.