Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
HYG vs HYMB: Differences, Returns & Fees
HYG's duration was 2.9 years on Aug 31, 2026 and HYMB's 7.3 on Jun 30, 2026; HYMB charges 0.35% to HYG's 0.49%.
askIQ about this page
askIQ about HYG and HYMB
Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $17.5bn for iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF and $3.8bn for State Street SPDR Nuveen ICE High Yield Municipal Bond ETF.
Pair scorecard
HYMB costs 0.14 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 2.3 points; HYG is 4.6 times larger.
| Measure | HYG | HYMB |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +1.3% | −1.0% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 4.7%, high on Jul 2, 2026 | |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | Markit iBoxx USD Liquid High Yield Index | ICE US Select High Yield Crossover Municipal Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.49% | 0.35% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 | $17.5bn | $3.8bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 0% | |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Jun 30, 2026 and Aug 31, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Apr 21, 2011 to Oct 23, 2026 · 809 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: HYG against IUSB, Jun 20, 2014 to Oct 23, 2026; HYMB against AGG, Apr 21, 2011 to Oct 23, 2026.
HYG returned more: +98.2% to +84.8%. HYMB swung slightly less: 8.7% to 9.0%. HYG fell slightly less at its worst: −20.7% to −22.5%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | HYG | HYMB | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +98.2% | +84.8% | HYG | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +4.5% | +4.0% | HYG | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | −16.6% | −4.7% | HYMB | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 9.0% | 8.7% | HYMB (slight) | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 6.2% | 6.4% | HYG (slight) | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −20.7% | −22.5% | HYG (slight) | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 62.1% | 104.0% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 48.4% | 88.6% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 1.00 | 1.31 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.31 | 0.49 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.35 | 0.31 | HYG | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.51 | 0.42 | HYG | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.019 | 0.021 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.22 | 0.18 | HYG | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | IUSB | AGG | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +1.9% a year | +1.9% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 0.87 | 1.23 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −2.4% to +6.1% | −1.2% to +5.0% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | 0.25 | 0.33 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 7.6% | 6.4% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 809 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, HYG and HYMB hold 0% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Jun 30, 2026 and Aug 31, 2026.
half
0% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
HYG and HYMB on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
HYG and HYMB do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. HYG follows Markit iBoxx USD Liquid High Yield Index and HYMB follows ICE US Select High Yield Crossover Municipal Index.
- Holdings in common. 0% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Aug 31, 2026 and Jun 30, 2026).
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 HYG returned +1.3% and HYMB −1.0% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 2.3 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
The two-page PDF for this pair is coming. Save the comparison to follow its changes. Free. It needs an email sign-in, once.
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.
HYMB
HYMB tracks an index of Nuveen ICE High Yield Municipal Bond. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned −1.0% with distributions reinvested, against −1.4% for its benchmark, the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.35% a year. It sat 4.7% below its high of Jul 2, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, HYG or HYMB?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, HYG returned +1.3% and HYMB −1.0%.
- Which is cheaper, HYG or HYMB?
- HYMB is cheaper, by 0.14 percentage points a year. That is about $14 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.
Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown
ETFIQ, HYG against HYMB, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/hyg-vs-hymb
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). HYG against HYMB. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/hyg-vs-hymb
[HYG against HYMB (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/hyg-vs-hymb)
Free to use with attribution for data ETFIQ computes; issuer data stays under its owner's terms.