Key Highlights

  • The fund holds 264 companies and issuers, with bonds making up 98.62% of the portfolio.
  • Australian issuers account for 84.89% of the fund.
  • The management fee is 0.10%, and the listed annual Yield is 4.18%.
  • The top ten holdings make up 11.98% of the fund, reflecting a broad spread of issuers.

State Street SPDR S&P/ASX iBoxx Australian Bond ETF (ASX:BOND) aims to match the performance of the S&P/ASX iBoxx Australian Fixed Interest Dividend index before fees and costs. The units were listed at $25.20, the fund is about $52.37 million in size, and the management fee is 0.10%. The portfolio combines government and corporate bonds, giving investors a single product covering a wide range of Australian fixed-income issuers.

Ticker

ASX:BOND

Listed price

$25.20

Fund size

$52.37 million

Management fee

0.10%

Listed annual yield

4.18%

Benchmark

S&P/ASX iBoxx Aus FI Div 0+ TR AUD

Holdings

264 companies

Portfolio make-up

Bonds make up 98.62% of the fund, with cash at 1.38%. Australian issuers account for 84.89%, followed by New Zealand at 4.99%, Germany at 2.96%, supranational issuers at 2.03% and the United States at 2.63%. The largest positions include Australian Commonwealth government bonds, such as a 3.75% bond at 1.73% of the fund.

The top ten holdings make up 11.98% of the portfolio, leaving most of the fund spread across the remaining issuers. Turnover is reported at 42.23%, which indicates a more active Rebalancing pattern than the broader index funds.

Income and costs

The listed annual yield is 4.18%, and the management fee is 0.10%. The higher turnover means that trading costs inside the fund can be greater than in a fund with fewer changes, although those costs are not shown separately in the listing information.

The fund's size is modest compared with the largest bond ETFs, which can affect how easily large orders are filled in the units.

Risks to weigh

Bond prices move opposite to interest rates, so a rise in rates can reduce the unit price, with longer-dated bonds more exposed. Corporate holdings also carry Credit risk, and their prices can fall if issuers face financial pressure. Because the portfolio is spread across many issuers, a single default would have a limited effect, but market-wide spread widening can still weigh on the fund.

Final Word

The SPDR S&P/ASX iBoxx Australian Bond ETF gives a broad exposure to Australian government and corporate bonds in one product. Its unit price will respond to Interest Rate moves and credit conditions, and the fund's modest size and higher turnover are further factors to weigh.