HYG vs PHYL: Differences, Returns & Fees
HYG's duration was 3.0 years on May 31, 2026 and PHYL's 3.0 on May 29, 2026; PHYL charges 0.39% to HYG's 0.49%. Net assets: $16.2bn on Oct 20, 2026 for iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF, and $1.5bn on Oct 19, 2026 for PGIM Active High Yield Bond ETF.
PHYL costs 0.10 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 0.1 points; HYG is 11.2 times larger.
| HYG | PHYL | |
|---|---|---|
| Expense ratio | 0.49% | 0.39% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 19, 2026 | $16.8bn | $1.5bn |
| Total return, 1 year | +0.7% | +0.8% |
| What it tracks | Markit iBoxx USD Liquid High Yield Index | No index, actively managed |
| Holdings in common | 35% | |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated May 29, 2026 and May 31, 2026.
HYG and PHYL are built for the same job. How do they differ in cost, holdings and results?
- What each follows. HYG follows Markit iBoxx USD Liquid High Yield Index and PHYL follows No index, actively managed.
- Holdings in common. 35% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated May 31, 2026 and May 29, 2026).
- Cost. HYG charges 0.49% of assets a year and PHYL 0.39%, a gap of 0.10 points.
Data as of Oct 20, 2026. The differences are picked by a fixed rule, in a fixed order; the PDF prints it. Page 2 has the returns, overlap, risks and sources.
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What they hold in common
By the books each fund has filed, HYG and PHYL hold 35% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated May 29, 2026 and May 31, 2026.
half
35% in common
On the same fields
HYG and PHYL on the fields both publish, as of Oct 20, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
About HYG
HYG tracks an index of US high yield bonds. Over the year to Oct 20, 2026 it returned +0.7% with distributions reinvested, against −1.6% for its benchmark, the Bloomberg U.S. Universal Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.49% a year.
About PHYL
PHYL is actively managed and tracks no index. Over the year to Oct 20, 2026 it returned +0.8% with distributions reinvested, against −1.9% for its benchmark, the Bloomberg US Aggregate Bond Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.39% a year.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, HYG or PHYL?
- In the year to Oct 20, 2026, with distributions reinvested, HYG returned +0.7% and PHYL +0.8%.
- Which is cheaper, HYG or PHYL?
- PHYL is cheaper, by 0.10 percentage points a year. That is about $10 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
ETFIQ links to the documents behind every figure; a link is not an endorsement. 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 PHYL, data as of Oct 20, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/hyg-vs-phyl
ETFIQ. (Oct 20, 2026). HYG against PHYL. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/hyg-vs-phyl
[HYG against PHYL (ETFIQ, Oct 20, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/hyg-vs-phyl)
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