Launched on 04/27/2016, the WisdomTree U.S. High Yield Corporate Bond ETF (QHY) is a smart beta exchange traded fund offering broad exposure to the High-Yield/Junk Bond ETFs category of the market.

What Are Smart Beta ETFs?

Market cap weighted indexes were created to reflect the market, or a specific segment of the market, and the ETF industry has traditionally been dominated by products based on this strategy.

Investors who believe in market efficiency should consider market cap indexes, as they replicate market returns in a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way.

There are some investors, though, who think it's possible to beat the market with great stock selection; this group likely invests in another class of funds known as smart beta, which track non-cap weighted strategies.

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.

Even though this space provides many choices to investors--think one of the simplest methodologies like equal-weighting and more complicated ones like fundamental and volatility/momentum based weighting--not all have been able to deliver first-rate results.

Fund Sponsor & Index

Because the fund has amassed over $237.61 million, this makes it one of the average sized ETFs in the High-Yield/Junk Bond ETFs. QHY is managed by Wisdomtree. This particular fund 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.

Annual operating expenses for QHY are 0.38%, which makes it on par with most peer products in the space.

QHY's 12-month trailing dividend yield is 6.27%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

Even though ETFs offer diversified exposure that minimizes single stock risk, investors should also look at the actual holdings inside the fund. Luckily, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

When you look at individual holdings, Us Dollaraccounts for about 50.62% of the fund's total assets, followed by Dreyfus Trsy Oblig Cash Mgmt Cl Ins and Wulf Compute Llc 7.75% 10/15/2030.

QHY's top 10 holdings account for about 104.36% of its total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

So far this year, QHY has gained about 1.42%, and is up about 5.09% in the last one year (as of 07/27/2026). During this past 52-week period, the fund has traded between $44.96 and $46.89.

QHY has a beta of 0.42 and standard deviation of 4.76% for the trailing three-year period. With about 508 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 $16.08 billion in assets, iShares Broad USD High Yield Corporate Bond ETF has $29.17 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

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WisdomTree U.S. High Yield Corporate Bond ETF (QHY): ETF Research Reports

This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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