USHY vs XCCC

USHYAiShares Broad USD High Yield Corporate Bond ETF

XCCCBBondBloxx CCC Rated USD High Yield Corporate Bond ETF

In short

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.

XCCC Most junk bond funds bury CCC credits inside a blend of BB and B. XCCC isolates them: a single-rung fund holding the lowest tier of the high yield market, the last stop before default.

Stated mandate

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

XCCC The fund seeks total return by primarily investing, through other ETFs, in U.S.-dollar-denominated high-yield corporate bonds across sectors of the fixed-income market.

Why people hold it

• 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.

• XCCC A pure ratings slice. It tracks a CCC-only high yield index rather than the whole junk market, so the exposure stays exactly where you pointed it.bondbloxxetf.com
• Fee is 0.40%, the median for high yield bond ETFs, and below the 0.55% charged by HYSA, the other fund declaring the same benchmark.
• Live since 2022 and has hugged its index closely, holding roughly 150 bonds rather than a token handful of names.
• Trades steadily for such a specialized credit strategy and lands in the upper half of its high yield ETF peer group overall.

Worth knowing

• 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.

• XCCC CCC is the bottom rung. Swings and credit losses here run deeper than in broad high yield, which is the trade you are making for the yield.
• Broad junk funds cost a fraction: SCYB 0.03%, SPHY 0.05%, USHY 0.08%. The 0.40% here buys the targeted rung, not wider market coverage.
• Concentrated by design. With roughly 150 bonds from the market's most fragile corner, a few stressed issuers can leave a mark.

Full USHY profile⁠

Full XCCC profile⁠