Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
JNK vs LQD: Differences, Returns & Fees
JNK's duration was 3.4 years on Jun 30, 2026 and LQD's 7.7 on Aug 31, 2026; LQD charges 0.14% to JNK's 0.40%.
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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $5.9bn for State Street SPDR Bloomberg High Yield Bond ETF and $30.6bn for iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF.
Pair scorecard
LQD costs 0.26 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 5.1 points; LQD is 5.2 times larger.
| Measure | JNK | LQD |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +1.7% | −3.4% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 6.3%, high on Sep 22, 2021 | |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | Bloomberg High Yield Very Liquid Index | Markit iBoxx USD Liquid Investment Grade Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.40% | 0.14% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 | $5.9bn | $30.6bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 0% | |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Jun 30, 2026 and Aug 31, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Dec 14, 2007 to Oct 23, 2026 · 984 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: JNK against AGG, Dec 14, 2007 to Oct 23, 2026; LQD against IUSB, Jun 20, 2014 to Oct 23, 2026.
JNK returned more: +141.3% to +110.1%. LQD swung less: 9.1% to 12.7%. LQD fell less at its worst: −24.7% to −38.4%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | JNK | LQD | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +141.3% | +110.1% | JNK | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +4.8% | +4.0% | JNK | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | −35.6% | +0.7% | LQD | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 12.7% | 9.1% | LQD | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 9.4% | 6.5% | LQD | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −38.4% | −24.7% | LQD | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 54.4% | 157.4% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 35.8% | 143.3% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 1.16 | 1.70 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.24 | 0.84 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.32 | 0.32 | Tie | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.43 | 0.45 | LQD (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.035 | 0.005 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.12 | 0.16 | LQD | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | AGG | IUSB | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +2.4% a year | +0.7% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 0.94 | 0.64 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −2.6% to +7.4% | −1.4% to +2.8% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | 0.24 | 0.14 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 11.1% | 5.2% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 984 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, JNK and LQD 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
JNK and LQD on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
JNK and LQD do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. JNK follows Bloomberg High Yield Very Liquid 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 Jun 30, 2026 and Aug 31, 2026).
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 JNK returned +1.7% and LQD −3.4% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 5.1 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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JNK
JNK tracks the Bloomberg High Yield Bond. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +1.7% with distributions reinvested, against −1.4% for its benchmark, the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.40% 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, JNK or LQD?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, JNK returned +1.7% and LQD −3.4%.
- Which is cheaper, JNK or LQD?
- LQD is cheaper, by 0.26 percentage points a year. That is about $26 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, JNK against LQD, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/jnk-vs-lqd
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