FLHY vs USHY

FLHYAFranklin High Yield Corporate ETF

USHYAiShares Broad USD High Yield Corporate Bond ETF

In short

FLHY Franklin's high yield ETF is income-first by charter: the prospectus puts current income at the top and capital appreciation a distant second. About 300 corporate bonds, monthly payouts, category-median cost.

USHY The wide-angle lens on junk bonds: about 1,900 US dollar high yield corporate issues for 0.08% a year, a fifth of what the typical fund in its category charges. Broad, cheap, heavily traded, and it pays monthly.

Stated mandate

FLHY The Fund seeks high current income and, secondarily, capital appreciation when consistent with its primary income goal.

USHY The fund seeks to track an index of U.S. dollar-denominated high yield corporate bonds.

Why people hold it

• FLHY The mandate is blunt. High current income comes first; capital appreciation only when it fits the income goal. Cash goes out monthly.
• It stays in its lane: a corporate high yield book that matches the mandate it advertises, with no drift into off-label credit.
• Top-quartile standing in a field of more than 90 high yield ETFs, and Franklin has run it since 2018. Assets sit in the billion-plus range.

• USHY Charges 0.08% a year while the median high yield fund in its cohort runs 0.40%. Cheap rent on an expensive-to-run corner of the bond market.
• Holds about 1,900 bonds against the ICE BofA US High Yield Constrained Index: the broad market, not a curated slice of the most liquid names.ishares.com
• A multi-billion-dollar fund and one of the more actively traded in high yield, which tends to keep bid-ask spreads thin even on busy days.
• Pays monthly and has tracked its index tightly since its 2017 launch, one of the closer index matches in its peer group.

Worth knowing

• FLHY The 0.40% fee is the category median, but the cheap index trackers in this cohort charge a fraction: SCYB 0.03%, SPHY 0.05%, USHY 0.08%.
• Junk bonds by design. Below-investment-grade credit moves with corporate stress, so it behaves more like a risk asset than like Treasuries.
• About 300 bonds is a compact book for credit, so a single issuer's trouble carries more weight. Trading volume is moderate, not mega-fund heavy.

• USHY High yield means below-investment-grade borrowers. When credit gets stressed this asset class drops with stocks instead of cushioning them.
• Cheaper tickets sit on the same shelf: SCYB at 0.03% and SPHY at 0.05%.
• This is a fund, not a bond ladder. No maturity date hands your principal back; the basket rolls on indefinitely.

Full FLHY profile⁠

Full USHY profile⁠