iShares € HY Corp Bd ESG ETF EUR Acc | EHYA |
by Jose Garcia-Zarate
We have qualitatively reviewed this strategy and reaffirmed its Process and People ratings. The following text is from May 16, 2023. IShares € High Yield Corporate Bond ESG ETF provides low-cost access to the high-yield bond market while avoiding issuers that don’t comply with environmental, social, and governance standards. The high yield bond market is comparatively illiquid and can prove highly vulnerable to changes in the business cycle. Passive funds fully expose investors to the high volatility of this market. The fee advantage relative to active peers is the key factor in their favor. However, this remains a bond market where experienced active managers can add value over a passive proposition. The index only focuses on liquid issues. This is typical of high yield bond passive funds and facilitates replication, but it narrows the investable universe, leaving pockets of value that active managers can exploit. Besides, the fund tracks an index that excludes issuers with a credit rating below BB+. This results in a portfolio with a heavy tilt towards issuers in the BB credit rating bucket. This minimizes risk, but also yield. The value of research and the flexibility of active mandates can give experienced high-yield bond active managers an edge on performance over the long-term. By contrast, investors in a passive fund will be fully exposed to the inherent high volatility of the high-yield bond market over a full market cycle. The quality tilt of this ESG-themed strategy as measured in terms of credit rating may help this strategy cushion the downside better than its non-ESG parent. However, the fund will struggle when issuers involved in excluded activities are on the rise. Overall, an index-tracking approach to the high-yield bond market comes with shortcomings. Indexes typically fall short of providing the broadest representation of the available opportunity set and expose investors to the full volatility of the market. In the case of this fund, its performance will also be conditioned by the effects of the ESG screening. However, this is not to say that there are no positives. Passive funds are useful instruments to quickly lock in positions in the high-yield bond market and this strategy could be used to provide an ESG tilt to a portfolio. Also, the cost advantage relative to active peers remains a key advantage. In any case, even accounting for this, the high-yield bond market remains an area where experienced active managers can retain an edge. |
Morningstar Pillars | |
People | Above Average |
Parent | Above Average |
Process | Below Average |