iShares 0-5 Year Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF

SLQD

Market cap $2.35B

Short-term investment-grade bond strategies, with durations in the two-to-three-year range, are well positioned to capture a meaningful yield advantage without the rate sensitivity that has challenged longer duration strategies in recent months. The yield to worst on a diversified short-term bond portfolio currently sits between 4.5% and 5.0%, more than 100 basis points above what bank savings accounts and government money market funds are currently yielding. Although the path for rates is highly uncertain, the range of outcomes in which short-term bonds outperform cash is considerably wider than the range in which they don't.

Sold 319,967 shares of SLQD, with an estimated trade value of $16.22 million based on quarterly average price Quarter-end position value decreased by $16.33 million, reflecting both share sales and price movement Transaction represented 3.46% of 13F reportable assets under management Post-sale holding: 529,983 shares valued at $26.76 million The position now accounts for 5.71% of the fund's 13F AUM, down from 9.3% in the previous quarter

Illinois-based LaSalle St. Investment Advisors acquired 135,360 shares of SLQD in the third quarter. The shares were valued at $6.88 million at quarter-end.

Waterloo sold 119,651 shares of SLQD with an estimated value of $6.05 million. Post-trade, the stake stands at 221,451 shares, worth $11.26 million SLQD now accounts for 0.84% of the fund's AUM, placing it outside the fund's top five holdings.

The ETF invests in U.S. dollar-denominated, investment-grade corporate bonds with maturities of less than five years. It has an effective duration of 2 years and a granular portfolio of over 2600 names. The portfolio is concentrated in the banking sector, representing 33% of the fund. The fund offers a 4.4% 30-day SEC yield, comprising risk-free rates and a credit spread.

SLQD is a short-term investment-grade corporate bond index ETF. The fund offers investors diversified exposure to high-quality bonds and a low but rapidly growing 3.1% yield. Although there is nothing significantly wrong with the fund, it compares unfavorably to JAAA.