We continue to expand our suite of Credit products with the introduction of three maturity-bucketed futures on U.S. corporate investment grade credit indices to be available for trading on March 30, 2026, pending regulatory review. Adoption of existing Bloomberg Credit futures has been strong, with nearly 1 million total contracts traded from launch through March 5, 2026.
Figure 1 – Key contract specifications
| Contract title | Bloomberg 1-5 Year Maturity Investment Grade Corporate Credit Index futures | Bloomberg 5-10 Year Maturity Investment Grade Corporate Credit Index futures | Bloomberg 10+ Year Maturity Investment Grade Corporate Credit Index futures |
|---|---|---|---|
| CME Globex and CME ClearPort code | IQS | IQY | IQL |
| BTIC code | IQST | IQYT | IQLT |
| Underlying index ticker | LDC5TRUU | BCR5TRUU | I13284US |
| Settlement type | Financially settled | ||
| Contract size | $200 x Index Points | $300 x Index Points | $150 x Index Points |
| Pricing quotation | Index Points | ||
| Termination of trading | Business day before the third Wednesday of the contract delivery month | ||
| Listing schedule | Three nearest quarterly months (March, June, September, December) | ||
| Initial listing | June 2026, September 2026, December 2026 | ||
| Block trade minimum threshold/reporting window | 50 contracts / subject to a 15-minute reporting window | ||
| Derived block trading | Eligible | ||
The new futures, covering 1-5 Year (IQS), 5-10 Year (IQY) and 10+ Year (IQL) maturities, enable market participants to target granular segments of the investment-grade corporate bond market. This segmented approach is particularly relevant in the current credit environment where investment-grade yields hover around 15-year highs. While a single broad index provides a general "beta" exposure, bucketed contracts allow for sophisticated duration and credit risk management, providing a more accurate tool for liability matching and tactical positioning.
Sophisticated trading and tactical flexibility
Traditionally, investors often managed credit risk through broad-market benchmarks or credit default swap (CDS) indices. However, these tools often lack the precision required to isolate specific segments of the yield curve. For example, the deeply liquid investment grade CDS index market is only available for the 5- and 10-year points of the curve. A critical advantage of these futures is the ability to manage both interest rate risk and credit spread risk across the short, intermediate and long segments of the curve:
- DV01 (Dollar value of 1 basis point change in interest rate): This metric measures price sensitivity to a 1-basis-point change in the risk-free yield. It is calculated as contract multiplier x index price x index options adjusted duration x 0.0001
- CR01 (Dollar value of 1 basis point change in credit spread): This metric measures price sensitivity to a 1-basis-point change in credit spread. It is calculated as contract multiplier x index price x index options adjusted spread duration x 0.0001
Figure 2 – Hypothetical futures DV01s using index prices1
| 1 to 5 Year (IQS) | 5 to 10 Year (IQY) | 10+ Year (IQL) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contract multiplier | $300 x index points | $200 x index points | $150 x index points |
| Index price* | 600.15 | 387.99 | 409.51 |
| Index OAD | 2.76 | 6.16 | 12.71 |
| DV01 | 49.69 | 47.80 | 78.07 |
*Based on index price as of 3/02/26
Figure 3 – Hypothetical futures CR01s using index prices1
| 1 to 5 Year (IQS) | 5 to 10 Year (IQY) | 10+ Year (IQL) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contract multiplier | $300 x index points | $200 x index points | $150 x index points |
| Index price* | 600.15 | 387.99 | 409.51 |
| Index OASD | 2.81 | 6.21 | 12.24 |
| CR01 | 50.59 | 48.19 | 75.19 |
*Based on index price as of 3/02/26
Liquidity and execution: The role of ETFs
The use case of these futures is bolstered by the existing liquidity of credit ETFs. Liquidity providers often lean on related ETFs for pricing and to hedge their market making. Because of this, deep and liquid ETF markets help support the liquidity available in Credit futures. The deep liquidity available in the related VCSH, VCIT and VCLT ETFs will support deep liquidity and competitive pricing in the futures contracts. While this applies for screen and block trades, this is especially true for derived blocks, where market participants can execute large futures positions by directly sourcing liquidity from related markets like ETFs.
Figure 4 – Selected ETF data2
| 1 to 5 Year (IQS) | 5 to 10 Year (IQY) | 10+ Year (IQL) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Underlying index ticker | LDC5TRUU | BCR5TRUU | I13284US |
| Related ETF | Vanguard Short-Term Corporate Bond ETF (VCSH) | Vanguard Intermediate-Term Corporate Bond ETF (VCIT) | Vanguard Long-Term Corporate Bond ETF (VCLT) |
| ETF net assets | $47.8B | $65.6B | $7.8B |
| 50-day average volume | 5.3m shares | 11.3m shares | 5.2m shares |
A derived block enables execution of a large futures position by sourcing liquidity from a related market. For Credit futures, the trade price and quantity are derived from a related hedging transaction in cash market instruments, such as fixed income ETFs.
Conclusion
Our maturity-bucketed Credit futures based on Bloomberg indices offer a level of precision and capital efficiency previously unavailable in the credit markets. By allowing for the isolation of specific curve segments and incorporating robust risk metrics, these products empower investors to navigate complex supply dynamics with unprecedented accuracy.
References
- Source is Bloomberg data as of March 2, 2026
- Source is Vanguard. Net Assets data is as of February 28, 2026. Volume data is as of March 4, 2026
All examples in this report are hypothetical interpretations of situations and are used for explanation purposes only. The views in this report reflect solely those of the author and not necessarily those of CME Group or its affiliated institutions. This report and the information herein should not be considered investment advice or the results of actual market experience.
