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Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis Vol. 60 No. 4 2025

ETFs, Creation and Redemption Processes, and Bond Liquidity

John D. Finnerty; Natalia Reisel; Xun Zhong

Fordham University

Abstract

We examine a link between bond exchange-traded fund (ETF) creation and redemption processes and the underlying bond market liquidity. Using daily creation and redemption data, we find that including a bond in a creation or redemption basket has a favorable impact on the bond’s liquidity for both high-yield and investment-grade markets. The improvement in liquidity persists during times of market stress with this impact being stronger for redemptions than creations. Our results suggest that ETF mispricing arbitrage explains the improvement in bond liquidity. However, we also find evidence that transaction costs and bond inventory management limit the ETF arbitrage.

DOI
10.1017/s0022109024000346
Volume
60
Issue
4
Pages
1891-1924
Language
en
Sources
bibtex:phds-export.bib crossref openalex

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