Solactive has launched the Solactive USD Investment Grade Corporate Index mirroring the performance of USD-denominated investment grade corporate bonds.
This new addition extends the range of benchmarks offered by the German index engineer, providing investors with a price-competitive alternative to what is currently available in the market.
The previous months have been very active for Solactive with the release of multiple broad-based indices on the fixed-income side. At the beginning of 2016, the Solactive Euro IG Corporate Index capturing the performance of investment grade corporate bonds issued in EUR was launched.
This was followed by the introduction in 2017 of the Solactive Euro HY Corporate Index and the Solactive USD High Yield Corporate Index, each providing a snapshot of non-investment grade bond markets denominated in EUR and USD respectively.
Investors can use the series of Solactive benchmarks as cost-efficient indices to evaluate the performance of segments of the fixed-income market. In addition, benchmarks can constitute the starting universe on which to build smart beta and more niche strategies. Alternatively, they can be used as foundations of index-linked investment products such as ETFs.
Steffen Scheuble (pictured), CEO of Solactive, says: “In the last two years we have dedicated a lot of effort to expand our family of branded benchmarks both on the equity and fixed-income side following increased customer demand. With the Solactive USD Investment Grade Corporate Index, together with the Solactive USD High Yield Corporate Index, we are finally completing coverage of the USD-denominated corporate bond market.”
The Solactive USD Investment Grade Corporate Index is composed of 5,000 corporate debt issues denominated in USD from both developed and developing markets with an amount outstanding of at least USD 400 million and a remaining time to maturity of at least 18 months. The index is calculated as a total return index and is rebalanced monthly. All index components must have a rating that is investment grade. The index is based on 1000 at the close of trading on 31 January 2005.
