LQIG, which began trading on the NYSE on May 12, is designed to provide bond investors with access to U.S. corporate bonds with higher relative liquidity and tradability. The new fund offers investors credit exposure with the potential for tighter bid-ask spreads, lower premium/discounts, and more transparency into the underlying holdings’ real-time valuations, according to a statement from the firm
“The growth of electronic bond trading volume coupled with the increasing adoption of fixed income ETFs is bringing the benefits of bond liquidity to all investors,” Rory Tobin, global head of SPDR ETF business at State Street Global Advisors, said in a statement. “Given State Street’s heritage as a liquidity leader in the ETF market, we’re excited to be working with MarketAxess, one of the world’s largest electronic fixed income trading venues, to launch LQIG.”
The SPDR MarketAxess Investment Grade 400 Corporate Bond ETF seeks to track the MarketAxess U.S. Investment Grade 400 Corporate Bond Index, a more data-driven approach to indexation.
The index measures the performance of 400 U.S. dollar-denominated investment-grade corporate bonds with higher-than-average liquidity relative to the broader U.S. corporate bond market. Powered by MarketAxess’ proprietary liquidity and pricing data — Relative Liquidity Score and Composite+™ pricing engine — the index combines actionable liquidity with broad market exposure. MarketAxess’ data capabilities support real-time pricing, liquidity assessment, and valuation, allowing for greater transparency and tradability, according to a statement from the firm.
“Most fixed income indices are designed to reflect an investment with broad market exposure and not for tradable products where the underlying components are regularly available. By contrast, the MarketAxess U.S. Investment Grade 400 Corporate Bond Index, launched last month, prioritizes liquidity, transparency, and a high availability of the constituent bonds,” Chris Concannon, president and chief operating officer at MarketAxess, said in a statement.
“We believe the launch of LQIG will be instrumental in supporting increased tradability in the traditionally fragmented and less liquid fixed income market,” Concannon added.
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