Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
HYG vs LQD: Differences, Returns & Fees
On Aug 31, 2026 HYG's duration was 2.9 years and LQD's 7.7; LQD charges 0.14% to HYG's 0.49%.
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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $17.5bn for iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF and $30.6bn for iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF.
Pair scorecard
LQD costs 0.35 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 4.7 points; LQD is 1.7 times larger.
| Measure | HYG | LQD |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +1.3% | −3.4% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 6.3%, high on Sep 22, 2021 | |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | Markit iBoxx USD Liquid High Yield Index | Markit iBoxx USD Liquid Investment Grade Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.49% | 0.14% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 | $17.5bn | $30.6bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 0% | |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Aug 31, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Jun 20, 2014 to Oct 23, 2026 · 644 weekly returns · each against IUSBHYG returned more: +56.0% to +35.3%. HYG swung slightly less: 9.1% to 9.4%. HYG fell less at its worst: −20.7% to −24.7%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | HYG | LQD | IUSB | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | |||||
| Total return | +56.0% | +35.3% | +28.3% | HYG | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +3.7% | +2.5% | +2.0% | HYG | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | −19.2% | −12.4% | −10.7% | LQD | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | |||||
| Volatility | 9.1% | 9.4% | 5.0% | HYG (slight) | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 6.3% | 6.6% | 3.6% | HYG (slight) | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −20.7% | −24.7% | −17.7% | HYG | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 62.1% | 157.4% | 100.0% | LQD | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. |
| Downside capture | 48.4% | 143.3% | 100.0% | HYG | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. |
| Beta | 1.00 | 1.70 | 1.00 | HYG lower | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.31 | 0.84 | 1.00 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | |||||
| Sharpe | 0.21 | 0.09 | 0.02 | HYG | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.31 | 0.12 | 0.02 | HYG | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.019 | 0.005 | 0.001 | HYG | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. |
| Calmar | 0.18 | 0.10 | 0.11 | HYG | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | |||||
| Benchmark | IUSB | IUSB | IUSB | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +1.9% a year | +0.7% a year | 0.0% | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 0.87 | 0.64 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. | |
| Alpha range | −2.4% to +6.1% | −1.4% to +2.8% | Both include zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. | |
| Information ratio | 0.25 | 0.14 | HYG | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 7.6% | 5.2% | 0.0% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 644 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, HYG and LQD hold 0% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Aug 31, 2026.
half
0% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
HYG and LQD on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
HYG and LQD do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. HYG follows Markit iBoxx USD Liquid High Yield Index and LQD follows Markit iBoxx USD Liquid Investment Grade Index.
- Holdings in common. 0% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Aug 31, 2026).
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 HYG returned +1.3% and LQD −3.4% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 4.7 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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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.
LQD
LQD tracks an index of US investment grade bonds. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned −3.4% with distributions reinvested, against −1.2% for its benchmark, the Bloomberg U.S. Universal Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.14% a year. It sat 6.3% below its high of Sep 22, 2021 on Oct 28, 2026.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, HYG or LQD?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, HYG returned +1.3% and LQD −3.4%.
- Which is cheaper, HYG or LQD?
- LQD is cheaper, by 0.35 percentage points a year. That is about $35 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, HYG against LQD, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/hyg-vs-lqd
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). HYG against LQD. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/hyg-vs-lqd
[HYG against LQD (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/hyg-vs-lqd)
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