Credit Futures on Bloomberg Corporate Bond Indices
Precisely manage credit exposure using the efficiency and liquidity of futures markets.
Liquidity and efficiency, now in the corporate credit market
As the leading exchange for fixed income derivatives, CME Group is the natural home for U.S. Credit Index futures. Utilize Investment Grade (IQB), High Yield (HYB) and Duration Hedged (DHB) contracts in a number of ways to better manage corporate bond portfolios. Basis Trade at Index Close (BTIC) contracts can also be used to manage exposure to the official close of the underlying indexes.
Quick links
Why trade Credit futures?
More efficient exposure
Trade with all-to-all electronic liquidity, low tracking error and zero management fees or ISDA agreements.
Offerings for credit and rate risk
With three listings, choose between high yield, investment grade and duration hedged contracts (only the credit component of investment grade).
Increased trading possibilities
Explore new ICS opportunities along with margin offsets against Treasury futures and Equity Index futures.
Choices for managing credit exposure in the futures market
| Investment Grade | High Yield | Duration Hedged | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Product code |
Outright: IQB |
Outright: HYB |
DHB |
| Underlying Index | Bloomberg U.S. Corporate Investment Grade Index | Bloomberg U.S. Corporate High Yield Very Liquid Index | Bloomberg U.S. Corporate Investment Grade Duration Hedged Index |
| Contract unit | 30 x Index Points | 150 x Index Points | 500 x Index Points |
| Minimum Price Fluctuation | 1/2 of 1 Index Points (0.50 = $15.00) | 1/10 of 1 Index Points (0.10 = $15.00) | 1/20 of 1 Index Points (0.05 = $25.00) |
| Final Settlement Minimum Tick | 0.0001 | ||
| Price Quotation | Index Points | ||
| Listing Schedule | Nearest 3 March Quarterly Months | ||
Explore multiple ways to navigate the corporate credit market
U.S. corporate credit is one of the largest fixed income markets in the world. With investment grade approaching $6 trillion in outstanding debt and high yield over $1 trillion*, both represent deep markets for companies seeking debt financing. This trend, coupled with ongoing electronification and futurization across a number of credit markets, make now an ideal time for participants to deploy Credit futures.
*Allianz/Bloomberg
Research and analysis
Get our experts' perspectives on current trends.
Trade Credit futures on CME Direct
A fast, secure, and highly configurable trading front end, CME Direct offers a one-stop shop for accessing Credit futures liquidity. Not on CME Direct? Get started.
Download the Credit futures trading grid:
- Right-click on the link and select "Save link as...".
- Save the file as an .XML on your computer.
- In CME Direct, select import view in the main menu.
- Import the grid into CME Direct.
- Under Menu, click on Save Window Layout.
Vendor codes
| Investment Grade | High Yield | Duration Hedged | IQB vs. ZN ICS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CME Globex | IQB | HYB | DHB | IQT |
| Bloomberg | Futures: IQBA Index Index: LUACTRUU |
Futures: HYBA Index Index: LHVLTRUU |
Futures: DHBA Index Index: I30287US |
Coming soon |
| CQG | IQB | HYB | DHB | IQT |
| DTN | @IQB | @HYB | @DHB | @IQT |
| Fidessa | IQB | HYB | DHB | IQT |
| FIS Global | IQB | HYB | DHB | IQT |
| ION Group | IQB | HYB | DHB | IQT |
| Itiviti | IQB | HYB | DHB | IQT |
| Refinitiv | QIB | BYH | DHB | QTI |
| TT | IQB | HYB | DHB | IQB|ZN |
| Vela | IQB | HYB | DHB | IQT |
Bloomberg terminal analytics
FAIR <GO>
Calculate the future fair value price, implied funding cost, and premium/discount of credit futures or Bloomberg fixed income indices (e.g., IQBU4 Index, FAIR)
PORT <GO>
Analyze performance results, fundamental characteristics, tracking error, scenario analysis, and portfolio optimization.
FICM <GO>
View real-time performance of credit products (cash bonds, ETFs, CDX) and spreads to identify relative value opportunities.
IDRV <GO>
Compare an instrument's credit spread to historical levels, and those of comparable credit products.
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