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The PowerShares International Corporate Bond Portfolio (PICB) is an exchange-traded fund (ETF) that offers exposure to investment-grade corporate bonds issued solely in developed markets outside of the U.S.
The Fund seeks results that correspond (before fees and expenses) generally to the price and yield performance of the S&P International Corporate Bond Index (the Index). The Fund will normally invest at least 80% of its total assets in the securities that comprise the Index. The Index measures the performance of investment-grade corporate bonds issued by non-U.S. issuers in the following G-10 currencies:
Australian dollar (AUD) New Zealand dollar (NZD) British pound (GPB) Swiss franc (CHF)
Euro (EUR) Norwegian krone (NOK) Japanese yen (JPY) Swedish krona (SEK)
  Canadian dollar (CAD) Danish krone (DKK)  
Each bond in the index:
  • Must be rated investment grade by Standard & Poor's or Moody's Investors Service, Inc.1
  • Must have a minimum amount outstanding, respective to the currency in which it is issued.
  • Is weighted by its outstanding market value.
The aggregate weight of bonds in a single currency may not exceed 50% at each monthly reconstitution and rebalance.
Yield Emphasis
One key aspect of the index’s construction methodology is its focus on higher yielding bonds. At each monthly rebalance, any currency with more than 10 eligible bonds will have the lowest yielding quartile of bonds removed from that currency’s eligible universe. The removal of lower yielding bonds results in an index yield that is higher than it would otherwise be.
For example, a group of 23 euro-denominated bonds would have the five lowest-yielding bonds removed from the group: 23/4 = 5 (5.75 gets rounded down to the nearest whole number).
Invesco PowerShares' family of fixed-income ETFs includes all types of products, including the industry's first insured municipal bond ETFs, the first laddered treasury ETF and the first ETF to invest solely in sovereign debt of emerging market countries. PowerShares Income ETFs can help investors develop an intelligent income strategy. Learn more
Fund Details
Fund SymbolPICB
Inception Date6/3/2010
Opening Share Price$25.00
Expense Ratio0.50%
Index ProviderStandard & Poor's
Rebalance FrequencyMonthly
Reconstitution FrequencyMonthly
Distribution FrequencyMonthly
PICB Fund Overview
  • Invests in international corporate bonds that meet specific investment criteria.
  • Provides relatively low cost,2 broad exposure to the international, investment- grade corporate bond market in a single trade.
  • Offers the benefits of the ETF structure including intra-day liquidity3 and transparency.4
  • Offers the potential for monthly income.
1 Investment grade is a classification given to a bond when its credit rating is BBB- or higher from Standard & Poor's or Baa3 or higher from Moody's. Credit ratings are assigned by Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organizations based on assessment of the credit worthiness of the underlying bond issuers. The ratings range from AAA (highest) to D (lowest).
2 Since ordinary brokerage commissions apply for each buy and sell transaction, frequent trading activity may increase the cost of ETFs.
3 Shares are not individually redeemable and owners of the Shares may acquire those shares from the Fund and tender those shares for redemption to the Fund in Creation Unit Aggregations only, typically consisting of 50,000 Shares.
4 ETFs disclose their full portfolio holdings daily.
There are risks involved with investing in ETFs including possible loss of money. Shares are not actively managed and are subject to risk similar to stocks. Ordinary brokerage commissions apply.
The Fund invests in debt securities, which carry interest rate and credit risk. Interest rate risk refers to the risk that bond prices generally fall as interest rates rise and vice versa. Credit risk is the risk of loss on an investment due to the deterioration of an issuer's financial health.
The Fund invests in corporate bonds issued by non-U.S. companies. Much of the income received by the Fund will be in foreign currencies and is subject to the fluctuation of foreign currencies relative to the U.S. dollar. Foreign securities have additional risks, including exchange-rate changes, decreased market liquidity, political instability and taxation by foreign governments.
The Fund's underlying securities may be subject to call risk, which may result in the Fund having to reinvest the proceeds at lower interest rates, resulting in a decline in the Fund's income.
The Fund's use of a representative sampling approach will result in its holding a smaller number of securities than are in the underlying Index, and may be subject to greater volatility.
The Fund is considered non-diversified and can invest a greater portion of assets in securities of individual issuers than a diversified fund. As a result, changes in the market value of a single investment could cause greater fluctuations in the share price than would occur in a diversified fund.
Unlike most ETFs, the Fund currently intends to effect redemptions principally for cash and partially in-kind, rather than primarily in-kind redemptions because of the nature of the Fund's investments. As such, investments in Shares may be less tax efficient than investments in conventional ETFs.
Standard & Poor's® and S&P® are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC ("S&P") and have been licensed for use by Invesco PowerShares Capital Management LLC. The Funds are not sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by S&P or its affiliates, and S&P and its affiliates make no representation, warranty or condition regarding the advisability of buying, selling or holding units/shares in the Funds.
Shares are not individually redeemable and owners of the Shares may acquire those Shares from the Fund and tender those Shares for redemption to the Fund in Creation Unit aggregations only, typically consisting of 50,000 Shares.
©2010 Invesco PowerShares Capital Management LLC
PowerShares® is a registered trademark of Invesco PowerShares Capital Management LLC (Invesco PowerShares). Invesco PowerShares Capital Management LLC and Invesco Distributors, Inc. are indirect, wholly owned subsidiaries of Invesco Ltd.
Invesco Distributors, Inc. is the distributor of the PowerShares Exchange-Traded Fund Trust, the PowerShares Exchange-Traded Fund Trust II, the PowerShares India Exchange-Traded Fund Trust and the PowerShares Actively Managed Exchange-Traded Fund Trust.
Investment products offered are: Not FDIC Insured  • No Bank Guarantee  • May Lose Value
View the Legal Notice
Why Invest in International Bonds?
International bonds perform differently from domestic bonds at different times, as indicated in the chart below. The addition of international bonds to a portfolio may help to offset a downturn in the U.S. bond market.
Moreover, approximately 55% of the global investment-grade fixed-income market is outside of the U.S. Adding foreign bonds to a portfolio may help create exposure that is more representative of the global bond market.
10-Years of Rolling 12-Month Returns (%)
International bonds are represented by the Merrill Lynch Global Broad Market Ex US Dollar Index. U.S. bonds are represented by the Merrill Lynch US Broad Market Index.
Source: Bloomberg, as of April 2010
Foreign Currency Exposure
International corporate bonds offer exposure not only to foreign companies, but also to foreign currencies. Over the last four decades, the dollar experienced large changes in value relative to individual G-10 currencies, but declined just 3% against the group as a whole.
Owning corporate bonds denominated across multiple currencies may help to diversify the exchange-rate risk concentrated in a single foreign currency and protect against a declining dollar.
Cumulative Change in Value of U.S. Dollar Against G-10 Currencies
(January 1971 to March 2010)
Source: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.
Performance against the euro is measured from its inception date in January 1999.
Correlation
Historically, international corporate bonds have exhibited a low correlation with all the major asset classes, which means it may help to increase the level of diversification in an investor's portfolio.
10-year Correlation with International Corporate Bonds
U.S. Corporates 0.63
U.S. Agg. Bonds 0.57
Dev. Mkt Equities 0.49
Real Estate 0.47
U.S. Treasuries 0.44
EM Debt 0.42
U.S. Muni Bonds 0.38
EM Equities 0.37
High Yield Bonds 0.35
Commodities 0.32
U.S. Equities 0.26
U.S. Dollar -0.93
Source: Bloomberg, as of April 2010
Correlation indicates the degree to which two investments have historically moved in the same direction and magnitude.