Article An intelligent approach aiming to boost total returns in IG credit

Paul Symns
• Head of EMEA ETF Fixed Income & Commodity Product Management
March 11, 2026
Side view of successful trader or businessman in formal wear and eyeglasses working with charts and market reports on computer screens in his modern office.

Key takeaways

  • Seeking more from IG credit:

    Demand for non-core exposure to investment grade credit is gaining traction as investors look for higher returns.

  • Challenges to overcome:

    Targeting higher returns can result in increased risk versus the benchmark and can be challenging when spreads are tight.

  • New product launch:

    Invesco’s new Yield Plus ETFs follow indices that aim for meaningful yield enhancements through a systematic passive approach.

For complete information on risks, refer to the legal documents. Investment risks include: Value Fluctuation, Credit Risk, Interest Rates, Securities Lending and Liquidity risk. Invesco USD IG Corporate Bond Yield Plus UCITS ETF: Country Concentration Risk. Click here for more information.

An intelligent approach aiming to boost total returns in IG credit

Active fund managers have various levers they can pull to try to generate higher returns in investment-grade credit, from sector allocation and issuer selection to duration and curve strategies. These tactical decisions often result in the portfolio having different characteristics to the core benchmark, and the macro levers may have a higher contribution to portfolio risk when spreads are tight. Our “Yield Plus” ETF range follow indices that can provide focused exposure on undervalued corporate bonds with a systematic, rules-based approach delivered through our highly efficient ETF platform. 

Intelligent indexing

The new Invesco IG Corporate Bond Yield Plus UCITS ETFs are designed to track the performance of iBoxx Corporates Investment Grade Spread Select Top 50% TCA indices, with targeted exposures to either USD or EUR denominated issues.  The indices have a straightforward yet innovative approach to isolating the highest-yielding bonds.

At the quarterly reconstitution of the relevant iBoxx index, each bond within the parent index is placed into one of 20 buckets, based on a combination of the bond’s remaining time to maturity and the issuer’s sector.

Bonds grouped into 20 maturity and sector buckets

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Maturity

 >10yr ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
✖ ✖ ✖ ✖
7-10yr ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
✖ ✖ ✖ ✖
5-7yr ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
✖ ✖ ✖ ✖
3-5yr ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
✖ ✖ ✖ ✖
1-3yr ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
✖ ✖ ✖ ✖
  Finance

Consumer &

Industrial

Commodities

(e.g., energy)

Defensive

(e.g., utilities)
                                                                                        Sector

The bonds within each bucket are then ranked by benchmark spread, which is the bond’s yield premium over the yield of a default-free bond with a similar time to maturity. Within each bucket, the index then selects the half with the highest spread.

This “intelligent indexing” approach is intended to more closely align with the parent index in terms of sector and maturity weights, with similar volatility, while aiming to meaningfully increase total returns. 

Discover our new ETFs

Find out more about the new Invesco IG Corporate Bond Yield Plus UCITS ETFs and how they follow indices with a more intelligent, systematic approach intended to generate yield enhancements compared to the broader parent index.    

An investment in this fund is an acquisition of units in a passively managed, index tracking fund rather than in the underlying assets owned by the fund. Costs may increase or decrease as result of currency and exchange rate fluctuations. Consult the legal documents for further information on costs.

Related insights

  • Investment risks

    For complete information on risks, refer to the legal documents.

    The value of investments and any income will fluctuate (this may partly be the result of exchange rate fluctuations) and investors may not get back the full amount invested. The creditworthiness of the debt the fund is exposed to may weaken and result in fluctuations in the value of the fund. There is no guarantee the issuers of debt will repay the interest and capital on the redemption date. The risk is higher when the fund is exposed to high yield debt securities. The Fund may be exposed to the risk of the borrower defaulting on its obligation to return the securities at the end of the loan period and of being unable to sell the collateral provided to it if the borrower defaults.

    Changes in interest rates will result in fluctuations in the value of the fund. It may be difficult for the fund to buy or sell certain instruments in stressed market conditions. Consequently, the price obtained when selling such instruments may be lower than under normal market conditions.

    Invesco USD IG Corporate Bond Yield Plus UCITS ETF: The Fund is invested in a particular geographical region, which might result in greater fluctuations in the value of the Fund than for a fund with a broader geographical investment mandate.

    Important information

    This marketing communication is exclusively for use by professional investors in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland; Qualified Clients/Sophisticated Investors in Israel and Professional Clients in Dubai, Ireland and the UK. It is not intended for and should not be distributed to the public.

    Data as at 31 January 2026, unless otherwise stated.

    This is marketing material and not financial advice. It is not intended as a recommendation to buy or sell any particular asset class, security or strategy. Regulatory requirements that require impartiality of investment/investment strategy recommendations are therefore not applicable nor are any prohibitions to trade before publication.

    Views and opinions are based on current market conditions and are subject to change.

    For information on our funds and the relevant risks, refer to the Key Information Documents/Key Investor Information Documents (local languages) and Prospectus (English), and the financial reports, available from: www.invesco.com/ie-manco/en/home.html. A summary of investor rights is available in English from www.invescomanagementcompany.ie. The management company may terminate marketing arrangements.

    UCITS ETF’s units / shares purchased on the secondary market cannot usually be sold directly back to UCITS ETF. Investors must buy and sell units / shares on a secondary market with the assistance of an intermediary (e.g. a stockbroker) and may incur fees for doing so. In addition, investors may pay more than the current net asset value when buying units / shares and may receive less than the current net asset value when selling them. For the full objectives and investment policy please consult the current prospectus.

    The iBoxx EUR and USD Corporates Investment Grade Spread Select Top 50% TCA Indices  (the “Indices”)  are products of S&P Dow Jones Indices GmbH (a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC) (“SPDJI”), and have been licensed for use by Invesco.  iBoxx® is a registered trademark of S&P Global, Inc. or its affiliates (“S&P”); Dow Jones® is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC (“Dow Jones”); and these trademarks have been licensed for use by SPDJI and sublicensed for certain purposes by Invesco. Invesco EUR IG Corporate Bond Yield Plus UCITS ETF and Invesco USD IG Corporate Bond Yield Plus UCITS ETF are not sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by SPDJI, Dow Jones, S&P, their respective affiliates, and none of such parties make any representation regarding the advisability of investing in such product(s) nor do they have any liability for any errors, omissions, or interruptions of the Indices.

    For the full objectives and investment policy please consult the current prospectus.

    Invesco Asset Management Limited, Perpetual Park, Perpetual Park Drive, Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire RG9 1HH, UK. Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Invesco Asset Management (Schweiz) AG, Talacker 34, 8001 Zurich, Switzerland. Invesco Investment Management Limited, Ground Floor, 2 Cumberland Place, Fenian Street, Dublin 2, Ireland. Regulated by the Central Bank in Ireland.

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