Designed to provide broad exposure to the High-Yield/Junk Bond ETFs category of the market, the WisdomTree U.S. High Yield Corporate Bond ETF (QHY) is a smart beta exchange traded fund launched on 04/27/2016.
What Are Smart Beta ETFs?
The ETF industry has long been dominated by products based on market cap weighted indexes, a strategy created to reflect the market or a particular market segment.
Market cap weighted indexes offer a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way of replicating market returns, and are a good option for investors who believe in market efficiency.
However, some investors believe in the possibility of beating the market through exceptional stock selection, and choose a different type of fund that tracks non-cap weighted strategies: smart beta.
This kind of index follows this same mindset, as it attempts to pick stocks that have better chances of risk-return performance; non-cap weighted strategies base selection on certain fundamental characteristics, or a mix of such characteristics.
This area offers many different investment choices, such as simplest equal-weighting, fundamental weighting and volatility/momentum based weighting methodologies; however, not all of these strategies can deliver superior results.
Fund Sponsor & Index
The fund is sponsored by Wisdomtree. It has amassed assets over $204.47 million, making it one of the average sized ETFs in the High-Yield/Junk Bond ETFs. QHY seeks to match the performance of the WISDOMTREE US HIGH YIELD CORP BOND INDEX before fees and expenses.
The WisdomTree U.S. High Yield Corporate Bond Index is a rule-based alternatively weighted Index designed to capture the performance of selected issuers in the U.S. high yield corporate bond market that are deemed to have attractive fundamental and income characteristics.
Cost & Other Expenses
Cost is an important factor in selecting the right ETF, and cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive cousins if all other fundamentals are the same.
With on par with most peer products in the space, this ETF has annual operating expenses of 0.38%.
QHY's 12-month trailing dividend yield is 6.29%.
Sector Exposure and Top Holdings
While ETFs offer diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk, a deep look into a fund's holdings is a valuable exercise. And, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.
When you look at individual holdings, Ngl Enrgy Op/fin Corp 8.375% 2/15/2032accounts for about 0.64% of the fund's total assets, followed by Fertitta Entertainment 6.75% 1/15/2030 and Warnermedia Holdings Inc 5.141% 3/15/2052.
Its top 10 holdings account for approximately 5.85% of QHY's total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
Year-to-date, the WisdomTree U.S. High Yield Corporate Bond ETF has gained about 8.26% so far, and was up about 7.8% over the last 12 months (as of 11/13/2025). QHY has traded between $43.48 $46.89 in this past 52-week period.
The ETF has a beta of 0.44 and standard deviation of 5.23% for the trailing three-year period. With about 443 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk .
Alternatives
WisdomTree U.S. High Yield Corporate Bond ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the High-Yield/Junk Bond ETFs segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.
iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF (HYG) tracks Markit iBoxx USD Liquid High Yield Index and the iShares Broad USD High Yield Corporate Bond ETF (USHY) tracks BofA Merrill Lynch U.S. High Yield Constrained Index. iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF has $17.93 billion in assets, iShares Broad USD High Yield Corporate Bond ETF has $25.97 billion. HYG has an expense ratio of 0.49% and USHY changes 0.08%.
Investors looking for cheaper and lower-risk options should consider traditional market cap weighted ETFs that aim to match the returns of the High-Yield/Junk Bond ETFs
Bottom Line
To learn more about this product and other ETFs, screen for products that match your investment objectives and read articles on latest developments in the ETF investing universe, please visit Zacks ETF Center.
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WisdomTree U.S. High Yield Corporate Bond ETF (QHY): ETF Research ReportsThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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