The ProShares High Yield-Interest Rate Hedged ETF (BATS: HYHG) has reached the important $100 million in assets under management milestone in less than 10 months of trading.
“Many investors have been attracted to the income of high yield bonds but are concerned about rising rates,” said Michael Sapir, Chairman and CEO of ProShare Advisors LLC, in a statement. “We believe investors have embraced HYHG because it goes beyond other ways to mitigate the effect of rising rates, like short-term bond funds.”
HYHG’s ascent to $100 million in assets is impressive given the short time frame which the fund has accomplished the feat. HYHG had less than $64 million in AUM at the end of last year, according to issuer data.
The timing of HYHG’s debut was excellent as the fund came to market just as investor were becoming skittish about the effects Federal Reserve tapering would have on interest rates. Soon after, 10-year Treasury yields spiked, highlighting the utility of HYHG, which targets zero duration.
The ETF’s underlying “index is designed to provide diversified exposure to a liquid portfolio of high yield bonds while seeking to mitigate the impact of interest rate movements. To be included in the index, bonds must have a minimum issue size of $1 billion USD, be issued within the past five years and have at least one year remaining to maturity. No more than two issues from an issuer are allowed, and no more than 2% of the index is allocated to a single issuer,” said ProShares in the statement.
As of Feb. 28, HYHG had an effective duration of negative 0.29 with a 30-day SEC yield of 4.74% and weighted average yield to maturity of 6.58%.