HYDW vs USHY

HYDWAXtrackers Low Beta High Yield Bond ETF

USHYAiShares Broad USD High Yield Corporate Bond ETF

In short

HYDW High yield with the volatility dial turned down. HYDW tracks a Solactive index that screens the junk bond market for lower-beta issues, and charges half the fee its category typically asks.

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

HYDW The fund passively seeks to track the performance of a Solactive index covering U.S.-dollar high-yield corporate bonds with potentially lower beta than the broader high-yield corporate bond market.

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

Why people hold it

• HYDW Costs 0.20% a year against a category median of 0.40%, so the low-beta tilt does not come with a boutique price tag.
• The mandate is specific: passively track the Solactive USD High Yield Corporates Total Market Low Beta Index, built for lower beta than the broad high-yield market.
• Roughly 600 bonds and monthly distributions, so no single issuer carries the portfolio and income arrives on a regular cadence.
• Running since 2018 with a passive index rulebook, it sits in the upper half of a crowded high-yield field on our review.

• 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

• HYDW Thinly traded next to high-yield heavyweights like USHY and SPHY, which can mean wider spreads at the moment you transact.
• Lower beta is not low risk. This is still below-investment-grade corporate credit, and the screen tilts the exposure rather than removing it.
• Plain broad high-yield trackers in the same cohort, including sibling HYLB, run cheaper. The low-beta screen is what the extra fee buys.

• 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 HYDW profile⁠

Full USHY profile⁠