HYXF vs SCYB

HYXFBiShares ESG Advanced High Yield Corporate Bond ETF

SCYBASchwab High Yield Bond ETF

In short

HYXF High yield with a filter. HYXF tracks a Bloomberg MSCI index of U.S. dollar junk bonds that screens out specified controversial business activities, then pays the income out monthly across roughly 600 issues.

SCYB Three basis points for the broad US high-yield corporate market. Schwab undercuts a category where the typical fund charges more than ten times as much, spreading the bet across roughly 1,800 bonds and paying monthly.

Stated mandate

HYXF The fund seeks high-yield fixed-income exposure and income by tracking an ESG-screened index of U.S. dollar-denominated corporate bonds, with exclusions for specified controversial business activities.

SCYB The fund follows a rules-based strategy intended to track the high-yield bond market, primarily through bonds in the Bloomberg Barclays US Corporate High Yield Total Return Index and similar derivatives.

Why people hold it

• HYXF Screen first, yield second: it tracks the Bloomberg MSCI US High Yield Choice ESG Screened Index, excluding specified controversial business activities, and it has hugged that index closely.
• 0.35% a year comes in under the typical high yield bond fund, so the values screen doesn't carry a boutique price tag.
• Spread across roughly 600 bonds, with income paid monthly rather than quarterly.
• Among the stronger implementations in a crowded high yield field, and the data behind that read is solid.

• SCYB 0.03% a year against a category median of 0.40%. Even the cheap rivals sit above it: SPHY at 0.05%, USHY at 0.08%.
• Tracks the same Bloomberg US Corporate High Yield index as BKHY, which charges 0.22%. Same map, cheaper toll.
• Roughly 1,800 bonds, so no single issuer's blowup drives the outcome. Rules-based and passive, and it has hugged its index closely.
• A multi-billion-dollar fund that trades actively and pays monthly, which matters in a corner of the market where getting out cheaply is half the job.

Worth knowing

• HYXF The screen has a price: SCYB, SPHY and HYLB deliver unscreened high yield exposure for a small fraction of 0.35%.
• A smaller fund that trades thinly next to the category heavyweights, which can mean wider spreads at the moment you trade.
• The filter changes who you lend to, not the credit risk you take: these are below-investment-grade borrowers that move with credit stress.

• SCYB High yield means below-investment-grade credit. These bonds behave more like stocks than Treasuries when the economy sours, and the extra income is the payment for that risk.
• Launched in 2023, so it has a shorter record than rivals that have traded through more credit cycles.
• The strategy can hold derivatives alongside the bonds themselves to track the index, one layer beyond plain bond ownership.

Full HYXF profile⁠

Full SCYB profile⁠