SCYB vs XB

SCYBASchwab High Yield Bond ETF

XBBBondBloxx B Rated USD 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.

XB High yield, sliced by credit grade. XB holds only the single-B tier, the fat middle of the junk market, leaving out BB near-investment-grade paper and CCC deep-distress names. One of the original ratings-specific high yield ETFs, trading since 2022.

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.

XB The fund is designed to provide exposure to U.S. dollar-denominated, below-investment-grade corporate debt in the B-rated segment of the high-yield bond market.

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.

• XB Precision instead of a blend: the mandate targets B-rated corporate bonds only, so you dial the credit tier yourself rather than buying the whole junk market at once.prnewswire.com
• Costs 0.30% a year, below the 0.40% typical of high yield bond ETFs, and the fund sits in the stronger half of that crowded peer group.
• Index rules do real work: bonds need at least $300 million outstanding and no single issuer can exceed 2%, spread across roughly 300 positions.bondbloxxetf.com
• Interest lands monthly, and the fund has stuck tightly to its stated index mandate.

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.

• XB Thinly traded with a modest asset base, so spreads can be wider than the giant broad high yield funds. Limit orders are the usual answer.
• You pay up for the slice: broad high yield rivals like SCYB (0.03%) and SPHY (0.05%) cost a fraction of this.
• One rating band means no BB ballast and no CCC upside. When single-B credit wobbles, there is nothing else in the portfolio to soften it.

Full SCYB profile⁠

Full XB profile⁠