State Street SPDR Bloomberg Short Term High Yield Bond ETF

SJNK

Market cap $5.19B

Compare SHYG and SJNK, two leading short-term high yield bond ETFs, for income investors seeking reliable yield with different risk profiles. SHYG is best for conservative investors, offering lower costs, higher liquidity, and a prudent portfolio with a 6.57% yield to maturity. SJNK appeals to those with higher risk tolerance, providing a slightly higher yield (7.30%) and return, but with greater credit risk and expense ratio.

SJNK offers high yield exposure with low interest rate sensitivity, focusing on short-term, below-investment-grade US corporate bonds. Current liquidity conditions are stable, so the ETF's main driver is carry, but rising auto loan delinquencies signal potential credit stress ahead. The fund's short duration limits rate risk but remains vulnerable to spread widening if consumer delinquencies persist or worsen.

The bond market looks increasingly focused on slowing economic growth vs. tariff inflation.

SJNK offers a more conservative approach to high-yield bonds, with shorter duration (2.2 years) and lower drawdowns than JNK during market stress. Despite tight credit spreads, SJNK's 7.5% yield and strong risk-adjusted returns make it attractive in a high risk-free rate environment. Historical performance shows SJNK outperforms JNK in down markets, with a shallower drawdown profile and better Sharpe ratio.

In recent days, a new headwind is weighing on fixed income securities: a US government budget bill, which is expected to significantly raise an already hefty federal deficit in the years ahead. Long-term Treasuries are the biggest losers post-Liberation Day, based on a set of ETFs through yesterday's close (May 21).

Advisors don't want to take on much interest rate risk. But many are willing to take on some credit risk.

Tap high-income ETFs to stave off market volatility.

SPDR® Bloomberg Short Term High Yield Bond ETF (SJNK) aims to reduce risk by focusing on junk bonds with maturities under 5 years. SJNK is well-diversified across sectors and issuers, with a significant allocation to consumer cyclicals and industrials. Despite marginally outperforming a junk bond benchmark, SJNK has suffered significant value decay and underperformed "fallen angels" ETFs.

Many investors oversimplify the investment process with respect to duration by thinking about the concept on a single spectrum. They also focus overly on today's yield rather than considering reinvestment risk as well as capital gains consequences. We discuss two of these investment process shortcomings and highlight a number of attractive holdings in the context of the current market environment.

On this week's episode of ETF Prime, host Nate Geraci was joined by VettaFi Head of Research Todd Rosenbluth to discuss polling results from VettaFi's Fixed Income Symposium. Afterward, Richard Kerr, Partner at K&L Gates, brought a legal analysis to multi-share class structure filings.