Topic: How To Invest

Pat: What do you think about the Claymore 1‐5 Yr Laddered Corporate Bond ETF as a fixed-income investment?

Article Excerpt

Claymore 1‐5 Yr Laddered Corporate Bond ETF, $20.31, symbol CBO on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 400,000; Market cap: $8.1 million), invests in a portfolio of short-term bonds drawn from the DEX (formerly Scotia Capital) Bond Index. The ETF is a recent new issue which first sold units to the public at $20 each, and began trading on Toronto on February 25, 2009. It has a 0.75% annual management fee and pays a $0.0715 quarterly distribution, which yields 1.6% on a yearly basis. The fund’s 25 holdings are divided into five staggered, or “laddered,” equally weighted maturities that range from one to five years. Each maturity includes five or more bonds with a minimum credit rating of “A”. Each year, the longest-term bonds will reach maturity, and the shorter-term bonds will be a year older. The fund can use proceeds of the matured bonds to buy new bonds that restore the desired portfolio balance. The largest holding in the ETF’s portfolio is a..