Products September 26, 2003

Barclays Releases New Bond ETF

September 26, 2003 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Barclays Global Investors has announced the launch of its iShares US Aggregate Bond exchange-traded fund (ETF).
Reported by

The new ETF, Barclay’s fifth fixed-income ETF, is designed to track the Lehman Aggregate Bond Index.    It will trade on the American Stock Exchange under the symbol AGG, according to a news release.

The latest release follows the approval by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of the new fund and the iShares Lehman US Treasury Inflation Protected Securities in August (See  Creation of Bond ETFs Gets Green Light ).   These will be added to the current Barclay’s fixed-income ETF lineup that debuted in July 2002 (See  Bond ETFs Debut ).

Fixed Income iShares are portfolios of bonds that can be bought and sold throughout the trading day like shares of stock, at prices determined by the market. Like traditional open-ended mutual funds, these bond-based ETFs allow investors to purchase a basket of bonds with one simple transaction.

In addition, whereas mutual funds are required to disclose their holdings semi-annually, iShares holdings are available daily.

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