JHHY vs USHY

JHHYBJohn Hancock High Yield ETF

USHYAiShares Broad USD High Yield Corporate 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.

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

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.

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

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.

• 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

• 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.

• 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 JHHY profile⁠

Full USHY profile⁠