FXB vs FXY

FXBBInvesco CurrencyShares British Pound Sterling Trust

FXYCInvesco CurrencyShares Japanese Yen Trust

In short

FXB One-ticker access to the pound. FXB is a grantor trust whose value aims to reflect the dollar price of sterling, plus any accrued interest, less expenses. Live since 2006, it's an original in a very small corner of the ETF market.

FXY The yen, in a brokerage account. FXY is a grantor trust that has held Japanese yen since 2007 and aims to reflect the currency's dollar price plus accrued interest, after trust expenses. One moving part.

Stated mandate

FXB The Trust seeks to reflect the U.S.-dollar price of British Pound Sterling, plus accrued interest if any, after deducting its expenses and liabilities.

FXY The Trust seeks to have its shares reflect the U.S.-dollar price of the Japanese yen, plus accrued interest, less the Trust’s operating expenses.

Why people hold it

• FXB One job, plainly stated: reflect the dollar price of the pound, plus any accrued interest, after expenses. A grantor trust tied to sterling, not a manager's macro call.invesco.com
• 0.40% a year, the standard rate across Invesco's CurrencyShares lineup (FXE, FXF and FXY all charge the same) and right at the single-currency median.
• Trading since 2006, one of the longest continuous runs among single-currency funds, and one of the stronger implementations in that small group.
• Whatever interest accrues on the trust's sterling above expenses goes out on a monthly schedule rather than piling up inside the wrapper.

• FXY Simple by design: a grantor trust built to give investors benefits similar to holding yen itself, so there is no index to track and no futures ladder to roll.
• Listed since 2007, which means a long public record across multiple yen cycles rather than a fund that showed up after the story got popular.
• Moderately traded, and one of the stronger implementations in a small cohort of single-currency funds.

Worth knowing

• FXB Thinly traded next to mainstream ETFs, so spreads and order size matter more here than in a big index fund.
• One currency, one exposure. Sterling versus the dollar drives the entire result, and the 0.40% fee comes off the top each year.
• Interest is conditional, not fixed: payouts depend on what accrues on the trust's sterling after expenses, so the cadence is monthly but the amounts are not set.

• FXY This is one exchange rate and nothing else. Moves in the dollar price of the yen come through directly, with no stocks or bonds underneath to soften them.
• Income is not the mechanism. Interest accrues inside the trust and expenses come off the top, and the trust has not been making distributions.
• The 0.40% fee is the going rate across the CurrencyShares lineup (FXE, FXB, FXF) and the cohort median, so cost is not the tiebreaker here.

Full FXB profile⁠

Full FXY profile⁠