At a glance
FEIG charges 0.12% a year, below the 0.15% average of the 7 funds most like it (the 4th cheapest of 8). It has $48.0M in assets, the 8th largest of that group; it paid 4.96% of its price in distributions over the past 12 months, monthly. Over the past year it returned −2.1% with distributions reinvested, 7th of those 8 funds; over three years it returned +5.9% a year. At its worst it fell 18.8% in the 2022 bear market (S&P 500: 24.5%), and was back at its earlier high 35 months after the low. Its ten largest positions make up 7.3% of the fund, out of 745 in all.
The short version
FlexShares ESG & Climate Investment Grade Corporate Core Index Fund (FEIG) is a Northern Trust ETF holding investment-grade US-dollar corporate bonds. Its index screens and reweights those bonds on environmental, social and governance (ESG) and carbon measures. Its 0.12% expense ratio is below the 0.15% average of similar funds, and it pays monthly. With about $48 million in net assets as of July 31, 2026, it is much smaller than most rivals.
Price history
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FEIG -2.1% over the year to Oct 27, 2026, total return with distributions reinvested.
How it has behaved
| YTD | 1 yr | 3 yr | 5 yr | 10 yr | Since start | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FEIG official prospectus, to Dec 31, 2025 | — | +7.43% | — | — | — | -0.41% |
| Bloomberg US Aggregate Bond Index index, same period | — | +7.30% | — | — | — | -0.31% |
| Bloomberg US Corporate Total Return Value Unhedged Index index, same period | — | +7.77% | — | — | — | -0.15% |
| Northern Trust ESG Climate Investment Grade US Corporate Core Index SM index, same period | — | +7.54% | — | — | — | -0.16% |
| FEIG price data to Oct 27, 2026 | -1.4% | -2.1% | +5.9% | -0.4% | — | -0.7% |
- Over the year to Oct 27, 2026, FEIG returned -2.1%, 7th of 8 among similar funds.
- Its 5-year annualized return was -0.4%.
- Its worst full calendar year was 2022 (-15.9%); its best was 2023 (+8.6%).
- The deepest fall in its price history was 22.3% (Sep 22, 2021 to Oct 20, 2022), not yet recovered.
Show as a table
| Year | Price data | Prospectus (official) |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 (to date) | -1.4% | — |
| 2025 | +7.3% | +7.43% |
| 2024 | +1.8% | +2.02% |
| 2023 | +8.6% | +8.59% |
| 2022 | -15.9% | -16.32% |
| 2008 financial crisis stocks fell Oct 9, 2007 – Mar 9, 2009 | Before this security existed |
|---|---|
| 2020 COVID crash stocks fell Feb 19, 2020 – Mar 23, 2020 | Before this security existed |
| 2022 bear market stocks fell Jan 3, 2022 – Oct 12, 2022 | Lost 18.8% over that stretch · deepest drop along the way 18.8%, back to its old high 35 months after the low |
Dividends and income
Show as a table
| Year | Per share | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 (to date) | $1.4600 | |
| 2025 | $2.0000 | +6.4% |
| 2024 | $1.8800 | +7.4% |
| 2023 | $1.7500 | +45.8% |
| 2022 | $1.2000 |
What's inside
As of Jul 31, 2026, the fund held 745 securities; the ten largest made up 7.32% of assets.
| Holding | Weight | |
|---|---|---|
| Morgan Stanley Bonds and notes | 1.03% | |
| HSBC Holdings plc Bonds and notes | 0.99% | |
| Ford Motor Credit Co. LLC Bonds and notes | 0.87% | |
| Morgan Stanley Bonds and notes | 0.68% | |
| Verizon Communications, Inc. Bonds and notes | 0.65% | |
| JPMorgan Chase & Co. Bonds and notes | 0.65% | |
| HSBC Holdings plc Bonds and notes | 0.64% | |
| AT&T, Inc. Bonds and notes | 0.63% | |
| Comcast Corp. Bonds and notes | 0.61% | |
| Ford Motor Credit Co. LLC Bonds and notes | 0.58% | |
| HSBC Holdings plc Bonds and notes | 0.55% | |
| Citigroup, Inc. Bonds and notes | 0.54% | |
| UBS AG Bonds and notes | 0.52% | |
| JPMorgan Chase & Co. Bonds and notes | 0.51% | |
| JPMorgan Chase & Co. Bonds and notes | 0.50% |
By country
United States 80.87%United Kingdom 4%Canada 2.83%Japan 1.77%Australia 1.09%By issuer
Companies 95.25%The bonds mature in 11.2 years on average (weighted by size), with an average coupon of 4.55%.
Source: N-PORT holdings report as of Jul 31, 2026. Cash, money-market funds and derivatives are shown separately from the securities list.What changed recently
- Over the three months to Jul 31, 2026, investors added a net $6.2M (creations minus redemptions, per the N-PORT report).
- Monthly total returns reported for that quarter: +0.74%, +0.06%, -1.73%.
How it works
FEIG tracks the Northern Trust ESG & Climate Investment Grade U.S. Corporate Core Index. Northern Trust builds that index itself. The starting pool is the Northern Trust Investment Grade U.S. Corporate Bond Index. It holds US-dollar corporate bonds rated investment grade (the top four credit-rating tiers) that have at least one year left to maturity and at least $250 million outstanding. Bonds in the pool are weighted by market value.
The index first removes companies tied to tobacco, weapons, thermal coal, unconventional oil and gas, and for-profit prisons. It also removes companies linked to violations of international norms. An optimizer then reweights the remaining bonds. It keeps the mix close to the starting pool while raising the overall ESG score (Northern Trust's ESG Vector Score, based on SASB standards), improving carbon risk ratings and lowering carbon intensity. Limits on sector, country, issuer and turnover keep the index near the broad market. These targets apply to the whole portfolio, so individual bonds can still score poorly.
The index is rebuilt monthly. It had 4,138 issues as of December 31, 2025. The fund uses representative sampling: it holds a smaller set of bonds chosen to match the index's overall profile. It held 745 positions as of July 31, 2026. It must keep at least 80% of its assets in index securities, and its portfolio turnover was 39%.
What it really costs
- FEIG charges 0.12% a year, versus an average of 0.15% for the similar funds below (4th of 8, cheapest first).
- The fee includes a 0.01% waiver from the adviser, which may end.
- Using the prospectus's standard example, $10,000 invested would cost about $12 in the first year and $165 over 10 years (assuming a 5% annual return).
| Cost of $10,000 (SEC example) | 1 yr | 3 yrs | 5 yrs | 10 yrs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FEIG | $12 | $41 | $72 | $165 |
Structure and tax notes
- Bond prices move opposite to interest rates; the longer the maturities it holds, the more its price reacts to rate changes.
In a retirement portfolio
It pays monthly income from a broad mix of investment-grade corporate bonds, but its price moves with interest rates, so it is not a shelter from losses.
FEIG's trailing 12-month yield was 4.96% ($1.95 a share) as of October 27, 2026, and it pays monthly. In the SEC's standard example, its 0.12% expense ratio costs $12 in the first year and $165 over 10 years on $10,000. The fund launched in September 2021, so it has no record from 2008 or 2020. It did go through 2022. As rates rose, it fell 18.8% between January 3 and October 12, 2022, and took 35 months to recover. Its worst calendar year was 2022, when it lost 16.3%. Its deepest drop was 22.3%, measured from its launch-month peak, and that loss had not been fully made up as of October 27, 2026. A retiree who sells shares for spending money in a year like that turns a paper loss into a real one. Past results don't predict the future, and a plan should look at the whole portfolio, not one fund.
Who it may suit — and who should look elsewhere
May suit
- Bond investors who want investment-grade corporate exposure with tobacco, weapons, thermal coal and for-profit prison issuers screened out.
- Investors wanting monthly income from 745 corporate bond positions; the trailing yield was 4.96% as of October 27, 2026.
- Cost-aware ESG investors comfortable paying 0.12% a year, below the 0.15% average of similar funds.
Look elsewhere if
- Investors focused on the lowest cost: USIG and IGIB charge 0.04%, and GIGB charges 0.08%.
- Anyone uneasy with interest-rate risk: with an average maturity of about 11 years, it fell 18.8% during the 2022 bear market.
- Investors who prefer large funds: at about $48 million, it ranked smallest of eight similar funds, and its 3-year return ranked last.
Close alternatives
Matched by bond funds with the closest average maturity and issuer mix (N-PORT).
| Fund | Avg. maturity | Cost | Net assets | 1 yr | 3 yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FEIG this fund | 11.2 yrs | 0.12% | $48.0M | -2.1% | +5.9% |
| GIGB Goldman Sachs Access Investment Grade Corpo… | 11 yrs | 0.08% | $1.01B | -1.7% | +6.1% |
| FLCO Franklin Investment Grade Corporate ETF | 10.9 yrs | 0.35% | $586.5M | -1.9% | +6.0% |
| JAAA Janus Henderson AAA CLO ETF | 11.4 yrs | 0.2% | $29.21B | +4.9% | +6.1% |
| USIG iShares Broad USD Investment Grade Corporat… | 10.3 yrs | 0.04% | $17.85B | -0.9% | +5.7% |
| IG Principal Investment Grade Corporate Active… | 12.7 yrs | 0.19% | $199.1M | -1.7% | +6.3% |
| LQD iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate … | 13 yrs | 0.14% | $32.04B | -2.3% | +5.2% |
| IGIB iShares 5-10 Year Investment Grade Corporat… | 8.3 yrs | 0.04% | $18.72B | -1.0% | +6.4% |
Questions investors ask
Does FEIG pay monthly dividends?
Yes. FEIG pays distributions monthly. Over the 12 months to October 27, 2026, it paid $1.95 a share, a trailing yield of 4.96%. The income comes from interest on its corporate bonds, which had an average coupon of 4.55% as of July 31, 2026. That income can change. When interest rates fall, maturing bonds are replaced with lower-yielding ones, and the payouts may shrink.
What's the difference between FEIG and GIGB?
Both hold investment-grade corporate bonds with similar maturities. Goldman Sachs Access Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF (GIGB) is FEIG's closest match by maturity and issuer mix. What sets FEIG apart is its ESG and climate screening. GIGB costs less (0.08% versus 0.12%) and is much larger: about $1.0 billion versus $48 million. As of October 27, 2026, GIGB returned -1.7% over one year and 6.1% a year over three years. FEIG returned -2.1% and 5.9%.
Is FEIG good for retirement income?
It may suit retirees who want monthly income from investment-grade corporate bonds with ESG screens. Its trailing yield was 4.96% as of October 27, 2026. The trade-off is interest-rate risk. In 2022, as rates rose, the fund fell 18.8% and took 35 months to recover. Anyone who needed to sell shares during that stretch would have sold at a loss. Its small size, about $48 million, is also worth weighing.
What are FEIG's largest holdings?
Bonds from big banks and telecom companies top the list. As of July 31, 2026, the largest single positions were bonds from Morgan Stanley (1.03%), HSBC Holdings (0.99%) and Ford Motor Credit (0.87%). Verizon, JPMorgan Chase, AT&T and Comcast came next. The fund held 745 positions, and the top 10 made up only 7.32% of assets. About 81% was in US issuers, 4% in the UK and 2.8% in Canada.
Does FEIG track its index closely?
Fairly closely, though it trails slightly. Through December 31, 2025, FEIG returned -0.41% a year since its 2021 launch. Its index returned -0.16%. In 2025, the fund gained 7.43% against the index's 7.54%. The gap reflects fees and the fund's sampling approach, which means it doesn't hold every bond in the index. Over the same period, the Bloomberg US Corporate index returned -0.15% a year and the Bloomberg US Aggregate Bond Index returned -0.31%.