iShares High Yield Corporate Bond BuyWrite Strategy ETF
$28.49−0.09 (−0.31%)
- Expense ratio
- 0.69%
- Fund size
- $111M
- 1Y return
- +4.3%
- Yield · Last 12 months
- 10.54%
- Volume · 30D
- 0M sh
- NAV per share
- $28.57
- 52W range
The ETF.net HYGW Grade
Score 66 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.BScore 59Category rankMission
How faithfully it does the job it claims — tracking its mandate or index with minimal slippage.AScore 100Category rankRisk
How violently it can move — volatility, drawdown depth, and downside capture versus its category.BScore 68Category rankTradability
How cheaply and easily you can get in and out — liquidity, spread, and premium/discount stability.BScore 64Category rankHoldings
What it actually owns — the quality, breadth, and concentration of the underlying portfolio.AScore 89Category rankDurability
Whether it will still be here — the fund’s assets, age, flows, and issuer staying power.AScore 76Category rank
Our read on HYGW
BCovered calls, but on junk bonds instead of stocks. It holds iShares' high yield corporate bond ETF and writes monthly calls against it, stacking option premium on top of coupon income, paid out monthly.
The fund seeks exposure to the iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF while writing monthly covered calls to generate income.
Why people hold it
- The buy-write playbook pointed at credit, not equities: own the high yield bond ETF, sell monthly calls on it, distribute monthly.ishares.com
- At 0.69% a year, it undercuts the typical fund in its options-income peer group.
- Runs the strategy its own documents describe, closely, and sits among the stronger builds in its options-income group.
- Live since 2022, built and run by iShares on top of its own high yield bond fund rather than a bespoke basket.
Worth knowing
- Selling calls trades upside for income. If high yield bonds rally past the strike, the gain above it belongs to the option buyer.
- The base exposure is below-investment-grade credit, so the principal moves with default fears and spread swings, not rates alone.
- A smaller, thinly traded fund, so spreads can run wider than the household-name covered-call ETFs.
HYGW Holdings
- Bonds
- —
- 4%
- BLK CSH FND TREASURY SL AGENCY
Sectors
- Utilities99.6%
- Real Estate0.4%
Geography
- United States100.00%
HYGW 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 | HYGW |
|---|---|
| Year to date | +2.5% |
| 1 month | −0.5% |
| 3 months | +0.2% |
| 1 year | +4.3% |
| 3 years | +5.6% |
| 5 years | — |
| 10 years | — |
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 | HYGW |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 YTD | +2.5% | |
| 2025 | +6.2% | |
| 2024 | +7.0% | |
| 2023 | +7.3% | |
| 2022 | −0.1% |
HYGW in the news
ETF.net Research hasn’t filed on HYGW yet — coverage lands here as it’s written.
HYGW Dividends
- 10.54%
- $3.01
- $0.18 per share
- Monthly
Distribution history
| Ex-date | Pay date | Amount per share |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2, 2026 | Sep 8, 2026 | $0.18 |
| Aug 4, 2026 | Aug 7, 2026 | $0.19 |
| Jul 2, 2026 | Jul 8, 2026 | $0.17 |
| Jun 2, 2026 | Jun 5, 2026 | $0.23 |
| May 4, 2026 | May 7, 2026 | $0.33 |
| Apr 2, 2026 | Apr 8, 2026 | $0.47 |
| Mar 3, 2026 | Mar 6, 2026 | $0.19 |
| Feb 3, 2026 | Feb 6, 2026 | $0.22 |
| Dec 23, 2025 | Dec 29, 2025 | $0.24 |
| Dec 2, 2025 | Dec 5, 2025 | $0.24 |
| Nov 4, 2025 | Nov 7, 2025 | $0.28 |
| Oct 2, 2025 | Oct 7, 2025 | $0.27 |
HYGW Risk
- 2.3%
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.
- 0.44
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.
- −5.5%
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.
- 0.30
How it’s calculated: beta
The beta figure is supplied by FMP. The comparison index depends on the fund’s broad asset class.
HYGW Cost
- The middle half of Other Index Option Income funds
- Median 0.74%
9 of the 23 Other Index Option Income funds charge less.