JHHY vs SCYB

JHHYBJohn Hancock High Yield ETF

SCYBASchwab High Yield Bond ETF

In short

JHHY A hired gun for junk bonds: John Hancock handed the portfolio to credit specialist Marathon Asset Management, which picks the bonds instead of copying an index. Fee is 0.52%, net of a waiver through July 31, 2027.

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

JHHY The SEC filing describes high-yield securities as below-investment-grade or comparable unrated debt instruments and notes that they generally offer higher yields than higher-rated securities, with greater risk.

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

• JHHY Actively managed since its 2024 launch and subadvised by Marathon Asset Management, a credit shop that picks issues rather than tracking a high-yield benchmark.johnhancock.com
• Income comes first by design, capital appreciation second, and the cash lands monthly rather than quarterly.bloomberg.com
• Risk is spread across roughly 600 bonds, and the holdings line up with the below-investment-grade mandate the filings describe.
• The waiver does real work here: 0.52% net against a 0.75% gross ratio, in place through July 31, 2027.

• 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

• JHHY That 0.52% still sits above the category median, and index rivals undercut it hard: SCYB at 0.03%, SPHY and HYLB at 0.05%, USHY at 0.08%.
• Thinly traded next to the category's giants, so wider spreads are a real possibility. Limit orders and calm market hours matter more with a fund this size.
• High yield means below-investment-grade credit, which the filing itself frames as higher yield paired with greater risk, and the fund's record only starts in 2024.

• 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 JHHY profile⁠

Full SCYB profile⁠