HYG vs USHY

HYGBiShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF

USHYAiShares Broad USD High Yield Corporate Bond ETF

In short

HYG A 2007-vintage junk bond ETF built around liquidity: a multi-billion-dollar fund, heavily traded, tracking an index screened for the market's more tradable bonds. The trade-off is a fee well above the category's cheapest.

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

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

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

Why people hold it

• HYG Running since 2007 and now a multi-billion-dollar fund that trades very actively, so thin days and wide spreads are rarely the sticking point.
• Follows the Markit iBoxx USD Liquid High Yield Index, which leans on larger, more tradable bonds instead of every scrap of paper in the junk market.ishares.com
• Income arrives monthly, and the mandate stays plain: a standard 1940 Act fund holding US dollar-denominated high-yield corporate bonds, index-tracked.
• Sticks closely to what its documents promise, and rates among the stronger implementations in a crowded high-yield field.

• 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

• HYG The 0.49% fee sits well above cheaper trackers like SCYB (0.03%) and SPHY (0.05%). You are paying for the trading ecosystem, not for cheaper exposure.
• High yield is below-investment-grade credit. When corporate stress rises, these bonds can move more like stocks than like Treasuries.
• The liquidity screen leaves out smaller issues, so coverage is narrower than broad-market rivals such as USHY.

• 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 HYG profile⁠

Full USHY profile⁠