In solving most white collar crimes, the key to finding the culprits is following the money. While in no way suggesting such nefarious goings on, it is quite useful to apply this tactic to Wall Street when trying to determine where the strength and weakness might be across various business lines and asset classes.

In early February Barron’s interviewed Roger C. Altman, CEO of Evercore Partners. The part of that Q&A most germane to today’s theme was this “A” that came after one of Larry Strauss’s “Q’s”:

State Street (STT) has filed for SEC approval on the Barclays Capital International Corporate Bond ETF (IBND), which could become the first U.S.-listed ETF to track the performance of the investment-grade corporate sector of the global bond market.

The fund would seek to track the Barclays Capital Global Aggregate ex-USD >$1B: Corporate Bond Index, a benchmark designed to be a broad measure of the global investment-grade, fixed rate corporate debt markets outside the U.S. In order to be eligible for inclusion, securities must be rated investment grade by at least two ratings agencies, have a minimum $1 billion market capitalization, and have at least one year remaining until maturity. Excluded from the index are subordinated debts, convertible securities, floating-rate notes, fixed-rate perpetuals, warrants, linked bonds, structured products, and Swiss Franc denominated debt.