Below we highlight five intriguing funds from the High Yield ETFdb Category that may perform well in 2012:
iShares iBoxx High Yield Corporate Bond Fund (HYG): This is the biggest offering in the space with nearly $11.7 billion in assets under management. HYG holds over 450 high yield, U.S. dollar-denominated corporate debt notes and had a recent 30-day SEC yield of 7.23%. This ETF is well diversified from a sector perspective and is also available commission free to Fidelity account holders.
SPDR Barclays Capital High Yield Bond ETF (JNK): This ETF features similar exposure to HYG, although it offers a bit less in the way of diversity. JNK's underlying portfolio consists of roughly 220 holdings and is tilted toward debt notes from companies in the industrial sector. This ETF had a recent 30-day SEC yield of 7.41% and is also available commission free to TD Ameritrade account holders.
PowerShares High Yield Corporate Bond Portfolio (PHB): This ETF separates itself from traditional "junk bond" ETFs by employing a fundamental approach that assigns weights to individual debt holdings based on four factors: book value of assets, gross sales, gross dividends, and cash flow. PHB charges a competitive 0.50% expense ratio and had a recent 30-day SEC yield of 5.47%.
PIMCO 0-5 Year U.S. High Yield Corporate Bond Index Fund (HYS): This fund tracks the BofA Merrill Lynch 0-5 Year US High Yield Constrained Index, which consists of 150 U.S. dollar denominated corporate debt securities rated below investment grade with remaining maturities of less than five years. HYS has a recent 30-day SEC yield of 7.16%.
Guggenheim BulletShares 2012 High Yield Corporate Bond ETF (BSJC): This bond ETF is unlike the majority of fixed-income products as it tracks an index designed to represent the performance of a held-to-maturity portfolio of U.S. dollar-denominated high-yield corporate bonds with effective maturities in 2012. BSJC has little in the way of interest rate risk and should bear relatively low credit risk as well seeing as how the principal amounts of the underlying notes will be repaid during the current calendar year. This one-of-a-kind bond ETF has a recent 30-day SEC yield of 4.94%.
ETFdb offers a comprehensive and original ETF database and analytical consulting services for advisors and investors, as well as a free newsletter. Learn more about their services by visiting ETFdb.com.