BKHY vs SCYB

BKHYABNY Mellon High Yield ETF

SCYBASchwab High Yield Bond ETF

In short

BKHY Junk bonds, whole hog. BKHY mirrors the Bloomberg index that defines the US high yield market, roughly 1,600 issues deep, for 0.22% a year. A broad, low-fee tracker that happens to be one of the smaller names on the shelf.

SCYB Three basis points for the broad US high-yield corporate market. Schwab undercuts a category where the typical fund charges more than ten times as much, spreading the bet across roughly 1,800 bonds and paying monthly.

Stated mandate

BKHY The fund uses a rules-based, systematic strategy to track a high-yield bond index. It normally invests at least 80% of its assets in bonds from that index, while similar derivatives may also be used.

SCYB The fund follows a rules-based strategy intended to track the high-yield bond market, primarily through bonds in the Bloomberg Barclays US Corporate High Yield Total Return Index and similar derivatives.

Why people hold it

• BKHY Charges 0.22% a year, comfortably below the typical fee in the high yield ETF crowd.
• Holds roughly 1,600 bonds against the Bloomberg US Corporate High Yield Total Return Index, the market's standard benchmark, not a trimmed liquid subset of it.
• Rules-based by prospectus: at least 80% of assets in index bonds. It has hugged that benchmark about as closely as anything in its peer group.
• Distributions come monthly, not quarterly.

• SCYB 0.03% a year against a category median of 0.40%. Even the cheap rivals sit above it: SPHY at 0.05%, USHY at 0.08%.
• Tracks the same Bloomberg US Corporate High Yield index as BKHY, which charges 0.22%. Same map, cheaper toll.
• Roughly 1,800 bonds, so no single issuer's blowup drives the outcome. Rules-based and passive, and it has hugged its index closely.
• A multi-billion-dollar fund that trades actively and pays monthly, which matters in a corner of the market where getting out cheaply is half the job.

Worth knowing

• BKHY It trades thinly and runs small, so spreads can be wider and big orders can push the price more than in the category's heavyweights.
• SCYB tracks the same high yield index for a fraction of the fee, and SPHY and USHY sit in single-digit basis points too.
• High yield means below-investment-grade credit. This portfolio reacts to default worries and spread swings, not just interest rates.

• SCYB High yield means below-investment-grade credit. These bonds behave more like stocks than Treasuries when the economy sours, and the extra income is the payment for that risk.
• Launched in 2023, so it has a shorter record than rivals that have traded through more credit cycles.
• The strategy can hold derivatives alongside the bonds themselves to track the index, one layer beyond plain bond ownership.

Full BKHY profile⁠

Full SCYB profile⁠