Liquid Alternatives: Fed to Launch Corporate Bond ETF Purchases Today

The New York Fed announced the move Monday.
“Fallen angel” corporate bonds that have taken a rating hit may be supported by the corporate bond ETF purchase program envisaged in the Secondary Market Corporate Credit Facility (SMCCF). The facility will kick in today. ETFs holding these fallen angels, whose ratings fell from investment grade to speculative or junk grade due to COVID, maybe the earlier targets in the program. (CNBC) The Fed could buy up to $750 billion under the SMCCF, and the Primary Market Corporate Credit Facility (PMCCF).
Qualifying ETFs
The New York Fed has been tasked with the purchases. It has appointed asset manager Blackrock (NYSE: BLK) to execute the plan. The Treasury will provide $75 billion in equity which will be leveraged 10X to the targeted $750 billion.
However, the program will run with conditionalities in place:
“The preponderance of ETF holdings will be of ETFs whose primary investment objective is exposure to U.S. investment-grade corporate bonds, and the remainder will be in ETFs whose primary investment objective is exposure to U.S. high-yield corporate bonds.
Moreover, the SMCCF will consider several additional factors in determining which ETFs will be eligible for purchase. Those considerations include: the composition of investment-grade and non-investment-grade rated debt, the management style, the amount of debt held in depository institutions, the average tenor of the underlying debt, the total assets under management, the average daily trading volume, and leverage if any.”
Bond ETFs already gung ho
The iShares iBoxx Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF (NYSEARCA: LQD) is up 18% since March 20, the iShares iBoxx High Yield Corporate Bond ETF (NYSEARCA: HYG) has risen 14% and the SPDR Bloomberg Barclays High Yield Bond ETF (NYSEARCA: JNK) has surged 14% as well.
Moreover, LQD is trading today at $126.60, up 0.84%.
HYG is up 0.46% to $79.75 and JNK is higher by 0.40% at $98.39.
Related Story: Liquid Alternatives: Muni Bond Caucus Wants Fed to Help; NY Fed to Buy ETFs in May
Image credit: Flickr

Latest Alternative Investment News

FinTech: Pluto Inks Collaboration With Mastercard For B2B Payments In The UAE
Pluto, a prominent provider of financial corporate spend management solutions in the UAE, has forged a strategic alliance with Mastercard (NYSE: MA), the global technology giant in the payments sector….

Alternative Investments/Real Estate: Alternative Investing Platform Yieldstreet Acquires Real-Estate Focused Cadre
Yieldstreet, a prominent private market investment platform, has officially announced its acquisition of Cadre, an online real estate-focused investment platform catering to institutional and high net worth investors. This strategic…

Venture Capital: Rocket Propulsion Startup Ursa Major Lands $138M
Ursa Major Technologies recently closed its Series D and D-1 funding rounds, securing a substantial $138 million investment led by Explorer 1 Fund and Eclipse, with participation from RTX Ventures,…

Artificial Intelligence: Saudi Venture Fund Forced To Sell Shares In Altman-Backed Chip Startup Rain AI
The Biden administration has compelled Saudi Aramco (TADAWUL: 2222)-backed venture capital firm, Prosperity7, to divest its shares from Rain Neuromorphics, a Silicon Valley AI chip startup supported by Sam Altman,…