Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
BOND vs HYG: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, BOND returned −1.4% to HYG's +1.3%, and HYG charges 0.49% to BOND's 0.54%.
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Net assets: $8.3bn on Jun 30, 2026 for PIMCO Active Bond Exchange-Traded Fund, and $17.5bn on Oct 27, 2026 for iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF.
Pair scorecard
HYG costs 0.05 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 2.7 points.
| Measure | BOND | HYG |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | −1.4% | +1.3% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 3.1%, high on Feb 27, 2026 | |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | No index, actively managed | Markit iBoxx USD Liquid High Yield Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.54% | 0.49% |
| Net assets, BOND as of Jun 30, 2026 and HYG as of Oct 27, 2026 | $8.3bn | $17.5bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 1% | |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Jun 30, 2026 and Aug 31, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Mar 9, 2012 to Oct 23, 2026 · 763 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: BOND against AGG, Mar 9, 2012 to Oct 23, 2026; HYG against IUSB, Jun 20, 2014 to Oct 23, 2026.
HYG returned more: +88.8% to +47.4%. BOND swung less: 4.9% to 8.7%. BOND fell slightly less at its worst: −19.5% to −20.7%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | BOND | HYG | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +47.4% | +88.8% | HYG | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +2.7% | +4.4% | HYG | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | −12.6% | −15.0% | BOND | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 4.9% | 8.7% | BOND | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 3.6% | 6.0% | BOND | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −19.5% | −20.7% | BOND (slight) | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 102.2% | 62.1% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 95.5% | 48.4% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 0.97 | 1.00 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.88 | 0.31 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.21 | 0.34 | HYG | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.28 | 0.49 | HYG | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.010 | 0.019 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.14 | 0.21 | HYG | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | AGG | IUSB | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +0.9% a year | +1.9% a year | HYG not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 2.05 | 0.87 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | 0.0% to +1.7% | −2.4% to +6.1% | HYG includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | 0.53 | 0.25 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 1.7% | 7.6% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 763 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, BOND and HYG hold 1% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Jun 30, 2026 and Aug 31, 2026.
half
1% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
BOND and HYG on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
BOND and HYG do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. BOND follows No index, actively managed and HYG follows Markit iBoxx USD Liquid High Yield Index.
- Holdings in common. 1% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Jun 30, 2026 and Aug 31, 2026).
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 BOND returned −1.4% and HYG +1.3% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 2.7 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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BOND
BOND is actively managed and tracks no index. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned −1.4% with distributions reinvested, against −1.4% for its benchmark, the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.54% a year. It sat 3.1% below its high of Feb 27, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.
HYG
HYG tracks an index of US high yield bonds. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +1.3% with distributions reinvested, against −1.2% for its benchmark, the Bloomberg U.S. Universal Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.49% a year.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, BOND or HYG?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, BOND returned −1.4% and HYG +1.3%.
- Which is cheaper, BOND or HYG?
- HYG is cheaper, by 0.05 percentage points a year. That is about $5 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
Links are sources, not endorsements. A comparison is not a recommendation.
How this is computed
Overlap adds up the smaller of the two weights for each security both funds hold.
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ETFIQ, BOND against HYG, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/bond-vs-hyg
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). BOND against HYG. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/bond-vs-hyg
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