GHYG vs VEMY

GHYGBiShares US & Intl High Yield Corp Bond ETF

VEMYCVirtus Stone Harbor Emerging Markets High Yield Bond ETF

In short

GHYG Most junk-bond ETFs stop at the US border. GHYG holds high-yield corporate debt from US and overseas issuers in one wrapper, spread across roughly 1,700 bonds, with income paid monthly.

VEMY Its high-yield cohort is mostly cheap US junk-bond index funds. VEMY goes the other way: an actively run book of emerging-market sovereign and corporate debt, roughly 190 bonds, paying monthly.

Stated mandate

GHYG The fund seeks to track an index of high-yield corporate bonds issued in the United States and abroad.

VEMY The Fund invests at least 80% of its assets, under normal circumstances, in high-yield bonds economically tied to emerging-market countries.

Why people hold it

• GHYG Passport included: tracks an index of high-yield corporate bonds issued in the US and abroad, while the biggest names in the category stick to USD-denominated paper.
• Roughly 1,700 bonds in the basket, so one issuer's trouble is a rounding error. That breadth is among the strongest in its high-yield peer group.
• Pays monthly, and has been running since its 2012 launch, so the record spans a full credit cycle rather than one calm stretch.

• VEMY A real outlier in the high-yield aisle: at least 80% of assets in bonds tied to emerging-market countries, not the US corporate credit the top-ranked funds beside it hold.
• Stone Harbor is a dedicated emerging-market debt shop, now a Virtus affiliate. VEMY was its first ETF, launched in 2022.stockanalysis.com
• No index to hug. Managers choose the issuers across sovereign and corporate emerging-market debt, roughly 190 bonds, and cash lands monthly.stockanalysis.com

Worth knowing

• GHYG The 0.40% fee sits right at the high-yield median, but USD-only trackers like SCYB (0.03%) and SPHY (0.05%) charge a fraction. Global reach is the line item you pay for.
• Thinly traded with a modest asset base, so bid-ask spreads tend to run wider than the household-name high-yield funds.
• This is below-investment-grade credit. Prices move with default worries, and stress in the credit market hits harder here than in a Treasury fund.

• VEMY At 0.55% a year it runs above the 0.40% cohort median and several times index peers like SCYB (0.03%) and SPHY (0.05%). Specialist credit work costs more than tracking.
• Thinly traded. Spreads can widen, so limit orders matter more here than in the giant broad high-yield funds.
• Small fund, launched in 2022, so the record is short. Emerging-market credit also carries sovereign and political risk that US-only high-yield funds don't take on.

Full GHYG profile⁠

Full VEMY profile⁠