The Counterpoint High Yield Trend ETF (HYTR) made its debut on 01/21/2020, and is a smart beta exchange traded fund that provides broad exposure to the High-Yield/Junk Bond ETFs category of the market.
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.
Investors who believe in market efficiency should consider market cap indexes, as they replicate market returns in a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way.
If you're the kind of investor who would rather try and beat the market through good stock selection, then smart beta funds are your best choice; this fund class is known for tracking non-cap weighted strategies.
Non-cap weighted indexes try to choose stocks that have a better chance of risk-return performance, which is based on specific fundamental characteristics, or a mix of other such characteristics.
Methodologies like equal-weighting, one of the simplest options out there, fundamental weighting, and volatility/momentum based weighting are all choices offered to investors in this space, but not all of them can deliver superior returns.
Fund Sponsor & Index
The fund is managed by Counterpoint. HYTR has been able to amass assets over $243.05 million, making it one of the average sized ETFs in the High-Yield/Junk Bond ETFs. Before fees and expenses, HYTR seeks to match the performance of the CP HIGH YIELD TREND INDEX .
The CP High Yield Trend Index seeks to provide exposure to the US high yield corporate bond market while reducing risk in times of market turbulence.
Cost & Other Expenses
Since cheaper funds tend to produce better results than more expensive funds, assuming all other factors remain equal, it is important for investors to pay attention to an ETF's expense ratio.
Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.79%, making it one of the most expensive products in the space.
It's 12-month trailing dividend yield comes in at 5.75%.
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.
Taking into account individual holdings, Ishares Broad Us (USHY) accounts for about 39.57% of the fund's total assets, followed by Spdr Bloomberg H (JNK) and Ishares Iboxx Hi (HYG).
HYTR's top 10 holdings account for about 100% of its total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
So far this year, HYTR has added about 0.52%, and was up about 3.84% in the last one year (as of 03/03/2026). During this past 52-week period, the fund has traded between $20.95 and $22.10.
HYTR has a beta of 0.24 and standard deviation of 5.42% for the trailing three-year period. With about 5 holdings, it has more concentrated exposure than peers .
Alternatives
Counterpoint High Yield Trend 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 $16.88 billion in assets, iShares Broad USD High Yield Corporate Bond ETF has $26.43 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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Counterpoint High Yield Trend ETF (HYTR): ETF Research ReportsThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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