Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Is Invesco Global ex-US High Yield Corporate Bond ETF (PGHY) a Strong ETF Right Now?

Read MoreHide Full Article

Making its debut on 06/20/2013, smart beta exchange traded fund Invesco Global ex-US High Yield Corporate Bond ETF (PGHY - Free Report) provides investors 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.

A good option for investors who believe in market efficiency, market cap weighted indexes offer a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way of replicating market returns.

But, there are some investors who would rather invest in smart beta funds; these funds track non-cap weighted strategies, and are a strong option for those who prefer choosing great stocks in order to beat the market.

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.

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

Managed by Invesco, PGHY has amassed assets over $226.87 million, making it one of the average sized ETFs in the High-Yield/Junk Bond ETFs. This particular fund, before fees and expenses, seeks to match the performance of the DB Global Short Maturity High Yield Bond Index.

The ICE USD Global High Yield Excluding US Issuers Constrained Index comprises of U.S. dollar denominated below investment grade corporate debt publicly issued in the U.S. domestic and eurobond markets by non-U.S. issuers.

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 PGHY are 0.35%, which makes it one of the cheaper products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 7.30%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

ETFs offer diversified exposure and thus minimize single stock risk, but it is still important to delve into a fund's holdings before investing. Most ETFs are very transparent products and many disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

When you look at individual holdings, Industrial & Commercial Bank Of China Ltd-3.20%-12-31-2079 (ICBCAS) accounts for about 1.4% of the fund's total assets, followed by Samarco Mineracao Sa-9.50%-06-30-2031 (SAMMIN) and 1011778 Bc Ulc / New Red Finance Inc-4.00%-10-15-2030 (BCULC).

Its top 10 holdings account for approximately 6.08% of PGHY's total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

The ETF has added about 0.89% so far this year and was up about 2.92% in the last one year (as of 10/12/2026). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $18.97 and $20.07

The fund has a beta of 0.21 and standard deviation of 5.29% for the trailing three-year period, which makes PGHY a high risk choice in this particular space. With about 615 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk .

Alternatives

Invesco Global ex-US 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 $25.32 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.

Published in