JNK vs USHY

JNKAState Street SPDR Bloomberg High Yield Bond ETF

USHYAiShares Broad USD High Yield Corporate Bond ETF

In short

JNK A 2007-vintage junk-bond heavyweight that tracks the "Very Liquid" corner of US high yield: roughly 1,200 of the market's more tradable corporate bonds, with income paid monthly.

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

JNK The fund seeks to track the price and yield performance of an index representing the U.S. high-yield corporate bond market, before fees and expenses.

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

Why people hold it

• JNK The benchmark is Bloomberg's High Yield Very Liquid Index, a liquidity-screened slice of US junk debt rather than every bond outstanding.ssga.com
• Running since 2007 and now a multi-billion-dollar fund, it is one of the actively traded names in the high-yield ETF aisle.
• Does exactly what the label says: broad exposure to about 1,200 US high-yield corporate bonds, tracking its stated index closely, with monthly distributions.
• Sits in the top quartile of a 93-fund high-yield cohort on our review, one of the stronger implementations among its peers.

• 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

• JNK The 0.40% fee matches the category median but towers over cheap broad rivals: stablemate SPHY at 0.05% and Schwab's SCYB at 0.03%.
• This is below-investment-grade credit. Prices move with default worries and risk appetite, not just interest rates.
• The liquidity screen tilts the portfolio toward larger, easier-to-trade issues, so it is a filtered version of the high-yield market rather than all of it.ssga.com

• 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 JNK profile⁠

Full USHY profile⁠