iShares iBonds Mar 2023 Term Corporate ex-Financials ETF (IBCE)

The iShares iBonds Mar 2023 Term Corporate ex-Financials ETF was a target-maturity bond fund from BlackRock's iShares lineup. It held US dollar investment-grade corporate bonds issued by companies outside the financial sector that were scheduled to mature around early 2023. The fund traded on NYSE Arca under the symbol IBCE. Its expense ratio was low, in line with other iShares bond funds of the same type.

Defined-maturity funds such as this one aim to behave somewhat like an individual bond. They pay income from the bonds they hold and then wind down at a set date, returning the remaining value to shareholders. As the bonds in IBCE matured, the fund moved the proceeds into cash and short-term instruments while it waited for its own termination date.

In January 2023 iShares reminded investors that its 2023 term funds were approaching their final dates. For IBCE, the last day of trading was March 30, 2023, and the fund was liquidated on or around April 5, 2023, with proceeds paid out through shareholders' brokerage accounts. After the last trading day, the fund no longer accepted creation or redemption orders from market makers.

The closing was planned from launch and did not reflect a fund failure. iShares continues to offer later-dated iBonds corporate funds, so investors who want a similar approach can choose funds with maturities further out. Investors who held shares until the end received the fund's net asset value in cash. Because term funds are built to end on a set date, their closing is a normal part of their life cycle.