iShares Yield Optimized Bond ETF
$21.83−0.22 (−1.00%)
- Expense ratio
- 0.41%
- Fund size
- $443M
- 1Y return
- +1.3%
- Yield · Last 12 months
- 5.43%
- Volume · 30D
- 0.1M sh
- NAV per share
- $22.05
- 52W range
The ETF.net BYLD Grade
Score 64 of 100 sits in the B band. Bands: A ≥ 70, B ≥ 55, C ≥ 40, D ≥ 25, F < 25; the scale skips E.
Cost
What you pay to own it — the expense ratio plus trading frictions, ranked within its category.DScore 30Category rankMission
How faithfully it does the job it claims — tracking its mandate or index with minimal slippage.AScore 88Category rankRisk
How violently it can move — volatility, drawdown depth, and downside capture versus its category.AScore 73Category rankTradability
How cheaply and easily you can get in and out — liquidity, spread, and premium/discount stability.BScore 63Category rankHoldings
What it actually owns — the quality, breadth, and concentration of the underlying portfolio.AScore 95Category rankDurability
Whether it will still be here — the fund’s assets, age, flows, and issuer staying power.AScore 70Category rank
Our read on BYLD
BMost core bond funds buy the whole market and take whatever yield falls out. BYLD tracks an index built from other iShares bond funds, tilted toward the higher-income corners of US fixed income, and pays monthly.
The fund seeks to track the Morningstar U.S. Bond Market Yield-Optimized Index, which targets high-yielding U.S. fixed-income securities and provides diversified bond exposure.
Why people hold it
- One ticker, many sleeves. The index is assembled from underlying fixed income funds picked to deliver current income, so the blending happens inside the wrapper.blackrock.com
- Income lands monthly, not quarterly, which lines up with how most household bills arrive.
- The portfolio is spread widely across the bond market and hews closely to its stated index, so what you buy matches what the label says.
- Trading since 2014 under the iShares roof, it sits in the upper half of a crowded aggregate-bond peer group on our review.
Worth knowing
- The 0.41% fee is above the typical fund in this category and well above the 0.03% charged by core index staples like BND, SPAB and SCHZ.
- Targeting higher-yielding bonds means leaning on credit, so it carries different risks than a plain market-weighted aggregate index fund.
- Volume is moderate rather than enormous. Limit orders and a look at the spread are worth the extra second.
BYLD Holdings
- Bonds
- —
- 8%
- BLACKROCK CASH CL INST SL AGENCY
Sectors
- Energy99.2%
- Real Estate0.8%
Geography
- United States91.37%
- China1.49%
- India0.87%
- Mexico0.54%
- Indonesia0.47%
- Malaysia0.47%
- Poland0.44%
- Colombia0.41%
- 3.94%
BYLD Performance
Shows how $10,000 changes over the selected period, with cash distributions reinvested at the closing price on each ex-dividend date.
Returns run to the Sep 22, 2026 close, with cash distributions reinvested. Each period starts on the same date that many months or years earlier. Periods over one year show the average yearly return.
| Period | BYLD |
|---|---|
| Year to date | +0.3% |
| 1 month | −0.7% |
| 3 months | −1.2% |
| 1 year | +1.3% |
| 3 years | +6.2% |
| 5 years | +1.7% |
| 10 years | +2.6% |
Calendar-year total return with cash distributions hypothetically reinvested at the ex-dividend date’s closing price. The current year shows year to date.
| Year | Return bar | BYLD |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 YTD | +0.3% | |
| 2025 | +8.4% | |
| 2024 | +4.2% | |
| 2023 | +8.3% | |
| 2022 | −10.3% | |
| 2021 | −1.3% | |
| 2020 | +3.9% |
BYLD in the news
ETF.net Research hasn’t filed on BYLD yet — coverage lands here as it’s written.
BYLD Dividends
- 5.43%
- $1.20
- $0.09 per share
- Monthly
Distribution history
| Ex-date | Pay date | Amount per share |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2, 2026 | Sep 8, 2026 | $0.09 |
| Aug 4, 2026 | Aug 7, 2026 | $0.10 |
| Jul 2, 2026 | Jul 8, 2026 | $0.10 |
| Jun 2, 2026 | Jun 5, 2026 | $0.10 |
| May 4, 2026 | May 7, 2026 | $0.10 |
| Apr 2, 2026 | Apr 8, 2026 | $0.10 |
| Mar 3, 2026 | Mar 6, 2026 | $0.10 |
| Feb 3, 2026 | Feb 6, 2026 | $0.10 |
| Dec 23, 2025 | Dec 29, 2025 | $0.10 |
| Dec 2, 2025 | Dec 5, 2025 | $0.10 |
| Nov 4, 2025 | Nov 7, 2025 | $0.10 |
| Oct 2, 2025 | Oct 7, 2025 | $0.10 |
BYLD Risk
- 4.7%
How it’s calculated: standard deviation
The sample standard deviation of monthly total returns, multiplied by the square root of 12.
Uses up to 36 complete months, with at least 12 required. Total returns include reinvested distributions.
- 0.33
How it’s calculated: Sharpe ratio
Subtract each month’s Treasury-bill return from the fund’s monthly total return.
Divide the average of those excess returns by their sample standard deviation, then multiply by the square root of 12.
Uses up to 36 complete months, with at least 12 required. Each month uses the Treasury yield quoted at the end of the previous month.
- −14.4%
How it’s calculated: maximum drawdown
The largest percentage decline from an earlier peak, using total returns with reinvested distributions.
Uses up to five years through the last close, with at least 12 months required.
- 0.78
How it’s calculated: beta
The beta figure is supplied by FMP. The comparison index depends on the fund’s broad asset class.
BYLD Cost
- The middle half of US Aggregate Bond funds
- Median 0.34%
77 of the 112 US Aggregate Bond funds charge less.