PIMCO Investment Grade Corporate Bond Index Exchange-Traded Fund

CORP

Market cap $1.35B

We think the Fed has time to assess the impact of tariffs, and we expect it to wait to cut rates until the data show that tariffs are impacting the real economy. So far, there are no signs of recession in the hard data. The tariff pause offers the possibility to avoid worst-case economic scenarios before the damage is crystalized. We believe technical factors will continue to drive market dislocations in spreads and sectors, and that active managers can navigate this more effectively.

PIMCO's corporate bond ETF seeks to provide optimized exposure to investment grade corporate bonds with excess yield relative to government securities. The fund has over 1,500 holdings, with a focus on investment grade corporate bonds, particularly BBB-rated credits, and has a 6.2 years duration. The ETF has performed similarly to the larger iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF, with a slight outperformance due to lower duration.

M&A was almost dormant in 2023. In the US, as a proportion of the market value of the benchmark equity indices, it fell to its lowest level in 20 years, according to McKinsey. Credit investors are not traditionally supposed to be fans of M&A, and it's true we are wary of leveraging M&A, where debt is loaded onto balance sheets to buy competitors. We are seeing a comeback for M&A that we think is likely to continue through 2024.