SHYL vs USHY

SHYLAXtrackers Short Duration High Yield Bond ETF

USHYAiShares Broad USD High Yield Corporate Bond ETF

In short

SHYL High yield without the long fuse: SHYL owns only junk bonds maturing inside five years, so rate swings land lighter than on the broad high yield crowd. Costs 0.20%, pays 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

SHYL The fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the Solactive USD High Yield Corporates Total Market 0-5 Year Index. It normally invests at least 80% of net assets, plus investment borrowings, in high yield bonds.

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

Why people hold it

• SHYL Every bond in the index matures within five years, which mechanically trims interest rate sensitivity versus full-maturity high yield funds.
• A 0.20% fee, well under the high yield category median, which is unusual for a fund running a specialist mandate rather than the plain broad index.
• About 800 issues spread default risk thin, and the income arrives monthly rather than quarterly.
• Running since 2018 and tracking its Solactive 0-5 year index tightly, it sits in the upper tier of its high yield peer group.

• 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

• SHYL Short maturities damp rate moves, not credit risk. These are still below-investment-grade borrowers, and they reprice fast when spreads widen.
• Trades thinly next to broad high yield heavyweights like SPHY and USHY, so bid-ask spreads can run wider in fast markets.
• If the five-year maturity limit isn't the point for you, broad rivals like SCYB and SPHY charge a fraction of the fee.

• 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 SHYL profile⁠

Full USHY profile⁠