HYG vs SPHY: Differences, Returns & Fees
HYG's duration was 3.0 years on May 31, 2026 and SPHY's 3.2 on Jun 30, 2026; SPHY charges 0.05% to HYG's 0.49%. Net assets on Oct 20, 2026: $16.2bn for iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF and $11.7bn for State Street SPDR Portfolio High Yield Bond ETF.
SPHY costs 0.44 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 0.4 points; HYG is 1.4 times larger.
| HYG | SPHY | |
|---|---|---|
| Expense ratio | 0.49% | 0.05% |
| Net assets | $16.2bn | $11.7bn |
| Total return, 1 year | +0.7% | +1.1% |
| What it tracks | Markit iBoxx USD Liquid High Yield Index | ICE BofA US High Yield Index |
| Holdings in common | 70% | |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated May 31, 2026 and Jun 30, 2026.
HYG and SPHY 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 SPHY follows ICE BofA US High Yield Index.
- Cost. HYG charges 0.49% of assets a year and SPHY 0.05%, a gap of 0.44 points.
- Holdings in common (similar). 70% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated May 31, 2026 and Jun 30, 2026).
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 SPHY hold 70% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated May 31, 2026 and Jun 30, 2026.
half
70% in common
On the same fields
HYG and SPHY 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 SPHY
SPHY tracks an index. Over the year to Oct 20, 2026 it returned +1.1% with distributions reinvested, against +1.0% for its benchmark, the ICE BofA US High Yield Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.05% a year.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, HYG or SPHY?
- In the year to Oct 20, 2026, with distributions reinvested, HYG returned +0.7% and SPHY +1.1%.
- Which is cheaper, HYG or SPHY?
- SPHY is cheaper, by 0.44 percentage points a year. That is about $44 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 SPHY, data as of Oct 20, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/hyg-vs-sphy
ETFIQ. (Oct 20, 2026). HYG against SPHY. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/hyg-vs-sphy
[HYG against SPHY (ETFIQ, Oct 20, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/hyg-vs-sphy)
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