iShares High Yield Corporate Bond BuyWrite ETF (HYGW)
BATS BATS Primary 
HYGW: Attractive ETF When Credit Spreads Are Tight
HYGW implements a passive strategy of holding the iShares iBoxx High Yield Corporate Bond ETF and systematically selling one-month covered call options on 100% of its holdings. While HYGW exhibits lower volatility than HYG, it has consistently underperformed HYG in normalized economic environments and during shallow market drawdowns. HYGW demonstrates its value during significant market stress or "true credit events" (like the March 2023 regional banking crisis), where the option premiums received significantly buffer the downside.
HYGW: Avoid This Amortizing ETF
The iShares High Yield Corporate Bond Buywrite Strategy ETF writes covered calls on the HYG ETF to generate high distributions. The fund's strategy results in capped upside and uncapped downside, causing it to underperform the underlying HYG ETF over the long term. Given the monthly rolling of HYGW's covered calls and current low credit spreads, HYGW is likely to see capital losses as the economy weakens in the coming years.
HYGW: Covered Call High-Yield Bond ETF, Outstanding 13.3% Yield, Declining Share Price And Distributions
HYGW offers a strong 13.3% distribution yield by investing in high-yield corporate bonds and writing covered calls. The fund's strategy works best when high-yield rates are flat or increasing, worst when these decrease. At current rates and spreads, I do not foresee any significant decrease in high-yield rates moving forward.
