HYFI vs USHY

HYFIBAB High Yield ETF

USHYAiShares Broad USD High Yield Corporate Bond ETF

In short

HYFI The high-yield aisle is stacked with index trackers. HYFI is one of the few with a live credit desk behind it: AllianceBernstein picks the bonds and dials risk up or down, at the category's median fee.

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

HYFI Seeks high income by actively managing a portfolio primarily invested in US high-yield corporate bonds, using security selection, dynamic beta management, and a disciplined research process.

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

Why people hold it

• HYFI Actively run rather than index-cloned: the team selects individual bonds and manages portfolio beta as credit conditions shift.alliancebernstein.com
• The 0.40% fee sits right at the high-yield category median, so the research desk costs no more than the typical fund in the group.
• Roughly 700 bonds and a monthly distribution schedule: income on a regular cadence, with no single issuer carrying the portfolio.
• Stays tightly on its stated job (US high-yield corporate credit) and lands in the upper half of a very crowded peer group.

• 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

• HYFI Index rivals charge a sliver of this: SCYB at 0.03% and SPHY at 0.05% versus 0.40% here. The active work has to cover that gap.
• Trades far less than the category's giants, which can mean wider bid-ask spreads at the moment you place an order.
• Launched in 2023, so the record is short, and it covers below-investment-grade credit where defaults and spread swings move prices.

• 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 HYFI profile⁠

Full USHY profile⁠