SCYB vs SHYG

SCYBASchwab High Yield Bond ETF

SHYGAiShares 0-5 Year High Yield Corporate Bond ETF

In short

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.

SHYG High yield without the long-bond whiplash. SHYG owns only junk bonds maturing inside five years, keeping interest-rate sensitivity low while the credit exposure does the work. iShares has run it since 2013.

Stated mandate

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.

SHYG The fund seeks to track an index of short-term, U.S. dollar-denominated high-yield corporate bonds, providing short-duration exposure intended to pursue income while managing interest-rate risk.

Why people hold it

• 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.

• SHYG The maturity screen is the whole point: only short-dated high-yield bonds, which trims interest-rate sensitivity while keeping the below-investment-grade credit exposure intact.ishares.com
• At 0.30% a year it sits below the typical high-yield bond ETF, where fees cluster nearer 0.40%.
• Spread across roughly 1,200 bonds, pays monthly, and tracks its index about as tightly as anything in the high-yield group.
• A multi-billion-dollar, actively traded fund that has been open since 2013, so the plumbing has a long record behind it.

Worth knowing

• 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.

• SHYG The short-maturity screen costs you: broad high-yield rivals SCYB (0.03%), SPHY (0.05%) and USHY (0.08%) charge a fraction of the fee.
• Shorter maturities dial down rate risk, not credit risk. These are still below-investment-grade borrowers, which is the volatile end of the bond market.
• US dollar-denominated corporate bonds only, so no currency or foreign-credit diversification in the mix.

Full SCYB profile⁠

Full SHYG profile⁠