Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Is Invesco Fundamental High Yield Corporate Bond ETF (PHB) a Strong ETF Right Now?

Read MoreHide Full Article

Designed to provide broad exposure to the High-Yield/Junk Bond ETFs category of the market, the Invesco Fundamental High Yield Corporate Bond ETF (PHB - Free Report) is a smart beta exchange traded fund launched on 11/15/2007.

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 work great for investors who believe in market efficiency. They provide a low-cost, convenient and transparent way of replicating market returns.

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.

These indexes attempt to select stocks that have better chances of risk-return performance, based on certain fundamental characteristics or a combination of 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 Invesco, and has been able to amass over $682.82 million, which makes it one of the larger ETFs in the High-Yield/Junk Bond ETFs. PHB seeks to match the performance of the RAFI Bonds US High Yield 1-10 Index before fees and expenses.

The RAFI Bonds US High Yield 1-10 Index is comprised of US dollar-denominated bonds that are registered with the SEC or that are Rule 144A securities that provide for registration rights and whose issuers are public companies listed on a major US stock exchange.

Cost & Other Expenses

When considering an ETF's total return, expense ratios are an important factor. And, cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive cousins in the long term if all other factors remain equal.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.50%, making it on par with most peer products in the space.

The fund has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 4.67%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

It is important to delve into an ETF's holdings before investing despite the many upsides to these kinds of funds like diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk. And, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

Looking at individual holdings, Synchrony Financial-7.25%-02-02-2033 accounts for about 2.03% of total assets, followed by Qvc Inc-4.38%-09-01-2028 and United Airlines Holdings Inc-4.88%-01-15-2025.

Its top 10 holdings account for approximately 16.38% of PHB's total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

So far this year, PHB return is roughly 0.17%, and was up about 8% in the last one year (as of 01/12/2024). During this past 52-week period, the fund has traded between $16.83 and $18.21.

PHB has a beta of 0.45 and standard deviation of 7.15% for the trailing three-year period, which makes the fund a high risk choice in the space. With about 150 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

Invesco Fundamental 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 Broad USD High Yield Corporate Bond ETF (USHY - Free Report) tracks BofA Merrill Lynch U.S. High Yield Constrained Index and the iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF (HYG - Free Report) tracks Markit iBoxx USD Liquid High Yield Index. IShares Broad USD High Yield Corporate Bond ETF has $12.25 billion in assets, iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF has $18.17 billion. USHY has an expense ratio of 0.08% and HYG charges 0.49%.

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.

Published in