PowerShares Debut PowerShares International Corporate Bond Portfolio
New PowerShares Corporate Bond ETF Debuts
ETF issuer PowerShares announced the debut PowerShares International Corporate Bond Portfolio today, an ETF focused on non-dollar denominated corporate debt issued by non-U.S. companies.
The ETF will trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker “PICB.”
PICB will go head-to-head with the SPDR Barclays Capital International Corporate Bond ETF (NYSE: IBND) and invest in corporate bonds denominated in Australian Dollars, British Pounds, Canadian Dollars, Euros, Japanese Yen, Swiss Francs, Danish Krone, New Zealand Dollars, Norwegian Krone, and Swedish Krona.
PICB has an expense ratio of 0.5% compared to 0.55% for IBND. Both ETFs include primarily high-quality issues with ratings of “A” or higher.
PICB will focus exclusively on international debt while IBND does offer some exposure to non-dollar denominated bonds issued by U.S.-based firms. PICB started trading at $25.
PICB holdings have an average duration of 6.3 years with an average coupon of 4.5%.
