HYEM vs MHY

HYEMBVanEck Emerging Markets High Yield Bond ETF

MHYDMan Active High Yield ETF

In short

HYEM Most funds in the high yield aisle buy American junk. HYEM leaves the country: a passive index of emerging markets corporate high yield, roughly 500 bonds deep, trading since 2012 and paying monthly.

MHY Man Group ran institutional credit for decades before it ever printed a ticker. MHY is the high yield entry in its first ETF launch: an actively run, global junk bond book from Man's own credit desk.

Stated mandate

HYEM HYEM seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the price and yield performance of the ICE BofA Diversified High Yield US Emerging Markets Corporate Plus Index.

MHY The Fund seeks current income as its primary objective and capital growth as a secondary objective.

Why people hold it

• HYEM A specialist, not a core holding. It passively tracks an ICE BofA index of emerging markets high yield corporate bonds, a corner most funds in this cohort never touch.
• Spread thin on purpose: roughly 500 bonds, so no single issuer or borrower carries the fund.
• Running since 2012 and paying monthly, with a 0.40% fee that lands right at the median for high yield bond ETFs.
• Lands in the upper half of a crowded high yield field, helped by its broad bond lineup and how smoothly it trades.

• MHY Active from the ground up: at least 80% of net assets in high yield bonds, run by Man's global high yield credit team, with current income the stated first objective and capital growth second.man.com
• Wide latitude by design. The prospectus permits up to 30% of net assets in bonds rated below B3 by Moody's or below B- by S&P/Fitch, the deep end of the credit market.man.com
• One line on the fee table: a 0.69% management fee, no 12b-1 fee, no separate other expenses. Income is distributed quarterly.sec.gov

Worth knowing

• HYEM That 0.40% is median for the category but many times what plain US junk funds charge (SCYB at 0.03%, SPHY at 0.05%). The fee buys the emerging markets mandate, not broad high yield beta.
• Emerging markets credit stacks country and political risk on top of ordinary default risk, so it can behave quite differently from US high yield.
• Moderately traded rather than a giant of the aisle, so limit orders and size discipline matter more here than in the mega-funds.

• MHY That 0.69% sits well above the high yield category median near 0.40%, and index heavyweights such as SCYB, SPHY and USHY charge single-digit basis points for broad exposure.
• It listed in September 2025, so the live record is short. As a newer, smaller fund it can trade with wider spreads than the category's index giants.
• Global mandate plus that below-B3 allowance means credit and currency exposure a plain US high yield index fund does not carry.man.com

Full HYEM profile⁠

Full MHY profile⁠