Skip to content

iShares High Yield Corporate Bond BuyWrite Strategy ETF

HYGWCboeiSharesB

$28.10−0.02 (−0.08%)

As of Nov 2, 2026, 3:59 PM ET

Intraday session: down, 79 prints from 28.12 to 28.10. Range 28.10 to 28.17. Use the arrow keys to read each point.28.1428.1610 AM12 PM2 PM4 PM
Expense ratio
0.69%
Fund size
$110M
1Y total return
+3.4%
Yield · Last 12 months
11.08%
Holdings
1328
Avg volume · 30D
24.8K sh
52W range
low $27.86high $30.34
Launched

The ETF.net HYGW Grade

B

Score 68 out of 100

Rank
3 of 24
Six-pillar profile for HYGW. Scores out of 100: Cost 63, Risk 70, Mission 100, Tradability 62, Holdings 89, Durability 76. Strongest: Mission (100). Weakest: Tradability (62). Leans toward Mission.

Score 68 of 100 falls in the B band. A is 70 or higher, B 55 to under 70, C 40 to under 55, D 25 to under 40, F under 25.

  • Cost

    The fund’s net expense ratio, ranked against its category.
    B63 out of 100
    Rank 9 of 24
  • Mission

    Whether the fund did what it promised, tested against its stated mandate.
    A100 out of 100
    Rank 1 of 4
  • Risk

    How the fund held up when markets fell: downside volatility, drawdowns and tail loss.
    A70 out of 100
    Rank 3 of 24
  • Tradability

    How easy the fund is to trade: daily volume, and how far its price strays from net asset value.
    B62 out of 100
    Rank 7 of 24
  • Holdings

    How concentrated the fund is, and how complete and current its disclosed holdings are.
    A89 out of 100
    Rank 2 of 16
  • Durability

    Whether the fund is likely to stay open, judged by its age, its assets and its issuer’s assets.
    A76 out of 100
    Rank 5 of 24

Our read on HYGW

ETF.net Research

In short

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.

Stated mandate

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

Asset class
Bonds
Holdings
1,328
Top-10 weight
5%
Largest holding
Blk Csh Fnd Treasury Sl Agency1.2%

Sectors

  • Consumer Discretionary19.8%
  • Communications16.0%
  • Energy13.2%
  • Capital Goods12.0%
  • Health Care8.4%
  • Basic Industry6.2%
  • Finance Companies5.1%
  • Insurance4.7%
  • Electric4.4%
  • Consumer Non-Cyclical4.3%
  • Reits2.1%
  • Transportation1.7%
  • Brokerage/Asset Managers/Exchanges0.9%
  • Real Estate0.4%
  • Owned No Guarantee0.3%
  • Treasuries0.2%
  • Banking0.2%
  • Technology0.0%

Geography

  • United States100.00%
The fund’s holdings, weight-ordered — page 1 of 89.
#TickerCompanyWeight %SharesMarket valueHeld by ETFs
1No dataBlk Csh Fnd Treasury Sl Agency1.22%1,342,987$1.34M437
2No data1261229 Bc Ltd 144A 10.00% 04/15/20320.56%5,929$618K59
3No dataMeridian Arc Holdco Llc 144A 6.25% 04/30/20310.44%5,293$483K70
4No dataSoftbank Group Corp 144A 9.25% 04/01/20320.40%4,472$441K52
5No dataEchostar Corp 10.75% 11/30/20290.40%4,120$439K55
6No dataParamount Skydance Corp 144A 8.25% 10/15/20310.38%4,192$414K65
7No dataSoftbank Group Corp 144A 9.75% 04/01/20340.37%4,126$407K40
8No dataQuikrete Holdings Inc 144A 6.38% 03/01/20320.37%4,092$406K54
9No dataPr Rno Property Owner 1 Llc 144A 6.50% 05/01/20310.34%4,228$375K62
10No dataCloud Software Group Llc 144A 9.00% 09/30/20290.33%3,604$362K58
11No dataCloud Software Group Llc 144A 6.50% 03/31/20290.32%3,517$346K60
12No dataParamount Skydance Corp 144A 8.88% 10/15/20340.31%3,543$343K46
13No dataCentene Corporation 4.63% 12/15/20290.31%3,539$341K55
14No dataHub International Ltd 144A 7.25% 06/15/20300.31%3,346$339K43
15No dataWulf Compute Llc 144A 7.75% 10/15/20300.29%3,146$321K56

Showing 1–15 of 1328 holdings

HYGW Performance

Launched Aug 18, 2022

Shows how $10,000 changes over the selected period, with cash distributions reinvested at the closing price on each ex-dividend date.

Not enough history yet.Not enough history yet.
HYGW$10,340
SPY tracks large US stocks. It provides market context, rather than representing this fund’s strategy, asset class or investment benchmark.$11,199
Oct 31, 2025 to Oct 30, 2026. HYGW $10,340. SPY $11,199. Use the arrow keys to read each point.$10,000$11,000Oct 2025Apr 2026Oct 2026

Oct 31, 2025 – Oct 30, 2026

Returns run to the Oct 30, 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.

Trailing total return for HYGW. Periods over one year show the average yearly return.
PeriodHYGW
Year to date+2.1%
1 month+0.8%
3 months−0.2%
1 year+3.4%
3 yearsper year+6.0%
5 yearsFund is under 5 years oldper yearNo data
10 yearsFund is under 10 years oldper yearNo data

With distributions reinvested.

Calendar-year total return with cash distributions hypothetically reinvested at the ex-dividend date’s closing price. The current year shows year to date.

Annual total returns for HYGW
YearReturn barHYGW
2026 YTD+2.1%
2025+6.2%
2024+7.0%
2023+7.3%
2022−0.1%

History from Aug 22, 2022

HYGW in the news

HYGW Dividends

Adds up every distribution paid per share over the last 12 months, divided by the last completed close. Distributions are counted by ex-date. Data through Oct 30, 2026.
11.08%Last 12 months
Payout per share
$3.12Last 12 months
Last payment
$0.37 per share
Paid on
Shares bought on or after this date do not qualify for this distribution.
Frequency
Monthly

Distribution history

2023–2026

One bar per payment. 45 payments from 2023 to 2026 YTD. Feb 2, 2023 $0.58; Mar 2, 2023 $0.38; Apr 4, 2023 $0.86; May 2, 2023 $0.40; Jun 2, 2023 $0.45; Jul 5, 2023 $0.49; Aug 2, 2023 $0.24; Sep 5, 2023 $0.39; Oct 3, 2023 $0.36; Nov 2, 2023 $0.41; Dec 4, 2023 $0.23; Dec 22, 2023 $0.55; Feb 2, 2024 $0.40; Mar 4, 2024 $0.42; Apr 2, 2024 $0.40; May 2, 2024 $0.32; Jun 4, 2024 $0.38; Jul 2, 2024 $0.36; Aug 2, 2024 $0.28; Sep 4, 2024 $0.22; Oct 2, 2024 $0.31; Nov 4, 2024 $0.21; Dec 3, 2024 $0.24; Dec 20, 2024 $0.36; Feb 4, 2025 $0.33; Mar 4, 2025 $0.21; Apr 2, 2025 $0.35; May 2, 2025 $0.56; Jun 3, 2025 $0.39; Jul 2, 2025 $0.42; Aug 4, 2025 $0.30; Sep 3, 2025 $0.16; Oct 2, 2025 $0.27; Nov 4, 2025 $0.28; Dec 2, 2025 $0.24; Dec 23, 2025 $0.24; Feb 3, 2026 $0.22; Mar 3, 2026 $0.19; Apr 2, 2026 $0.47; May 4, 2026 $0.33; Jun 2, 2026 $0.23; Jul 2, 2026 $0.17; Aug 4, 2026 $0.19; Sep 2, 2026 $0.18; Oct 2, 2026 $0.37. Use the arrow keys to read each point.2023202420252026YTD
Ex-datePay dateAmount per share
Oct 2, 2026Oct 7, 2026$0.37
Sep 2, 2026Sep 8, 2026$0.18
Aug 4, 2026Aug 7, 2026$0.19
Jul 2, 2026Jul 8, 2026$0.17
Jun 2, 2026Jun 5, 2026$0.23
May 4, 2026May 7, 2026$0.33
Apr 2, 2026Apr 8, 2026$0.47
Mar 3, 2026Mar 6, 2026$0.19
Feb 3, 2026Feb 6, 2026$0.22
Dec 23, 2025Dec 29, 2025$0.24
Dec 2, 2025Dec 5, 2025$0.24
Nov 4, 2025Nov 7, 2025$0.28

See all 50 payments⁠

$10,000 in HYGW 3 years ago paid $3,343 in dividends.⁠

HYGW Risk

How much the fund’s monthly returns vary, scaled to a year.
2.4%
Annualised · 36 months to Oct 2026
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.

Return above 3-month US Treasury bills per unit of volatility.
0.61
vs 3-month T-bills · to Oct 2026
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.

The largest fall from a peak to the low that followed.
−5.5%
50 months · trough Sep 2022
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.

How strongly the fund’s returns move with its asset-class index.
0.30
vs its asset-class index
How it’s calculated: beta

The beta figure is supplied by FMP. The comparison index depends on the fund’s broad asset class.

FMP measures it over up to five years of monthly returns.

HYGW Cost

Overpaying vs EDGX, cheapest in Other Index Option Income

$13,429

On $10,000 over 30 years. 7% growth a year before fees, expense ratio only.

  • HYGW 0.69%

    $13,429

  • EDGX 0.00% Cheapest

    $0

$10,000
30 years

Cost over time

  • HYGW 0.69%
  • EDGX 0.00%
  • Overpaying
One line per fund, from year 0 to year 30. Use the arrow keys to read each point.$0$5K$10K$15K051015202530HYGW $13,429EDGX $0

Year by year

YearHYGWEDGXOverpaying
10$1,232$0$1,232
20$4,697$0$4,697
30$13,429$0$13,429

Other funds in Other Index Option Income