HYBB vs SPHY

HYBBAiShares BB Rated Corporate Bond ETF

SPHYAState Street SPDR Portfolio High Yield Bond ETF

In short

HYBB Most high-yield funds buy the whole junk pile, CCCs included. HYBB takes only the top rung: BB-rated corporate bonds, the tier sitting just below investment grade, for less than the typical high-yield ETF charges.

SPHY State Street's junk-bond workhorse: roughly 1,900 US high yield bonds in one wrapper for 0.05% a year, a fraction of what the typical high yield ETF charges, with income paid monthly.

Stated mandate

HYBB The fund is designed to follow an index composed of BB-rated corporate bonds denominated in U.S. dollars.

SPHY The fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the price and yield performance of the ICE BofA US High Yield Index.

Why people hold it

• HYBB Follows the ICE BofA BB US High Yield Constrained Index, so credit quality stays pinned to the BB rung rather than drifting down into deeper junk.ishares.com
• Charges 0.25% a year, under the median for high-yield bond ETFs, and has tracked its index closely since launching in 2020.
• Spreads the money across roughly 1,100 bonds and pays monthly, so no single issuer carries much weight in the portfolio.
• One of the stronger builds in a crowded high-yield field: single-slice mandate, index-faithful, no leverage or derivative wrappers bolted on.

• SPHY 0.05% a year against a peer-group median about eight times higher. In high yield, the fee comes straight out of coupon income, so the gap does real work.
• Holds about 1,900 bonds tracking the ICE BofA US High Yield Index, broad enough that no single issuer's trouble dominates the portfolio.ssga.com
• Live since 2012, a multi-billion-dollar fund that trades actively and has stuck tightly to its stated index rather than drifting from the mandate.
• Distributions arrive monthly, in step with how the underlying coupons come in.

Worth knowing

• HYBB Thinly traded next to the category's giants, which can mean wider bid-ask spreads, particularly when credit markets get rough.
• BB is the top of junk, not investment grade. Default risk and spread swings still come with the territory.
• Broad high-yield rivals cost less: SCYB at 0.03% and SPHY at 0.05% buy the entire junk market, BBs and all, for a fraction of the fee.

• SPHY This is below-investment-grade credit. Defaults and spread moves drive the price far more than Treasury yields do, and sell-offs in this asset class can be sharp.
• Fees here are already near the floor: SCYB lists 0.03% and HYLB matches at 0.05%, so the cost edge over the strongest peers is narrow.
• Scope is US high yield corporates, full stop. No investment-grade ballast, no emerging market debt, nothing to soften a credit drawdown from inside the fund.ssga.com

Full HYBB profile⁠

Full SPHY profile⁠