What Is SPHY? State Street SPDR Portfolio High Yield Bond ETF
Last updated July 2026
Short answer
SPHY is State Street SPDR Portfolio High Yield Bond ETF, an ETF that tracks a US high-yield corporate bond index at a 0.05% expense ratio. SPHY holds US high-yield corporate bonds, bundled into one ticker. At 0.05% it undercuts the typical high yield bond fund, which runs nearer 0.30%. It distributes about 7.24%, and that payout moves with rates rather than being fixed. It launched in 2012.
SPHY is issued by State Street SPDR and tracks a US high-yield corporate bond index. It charges a 0.05% expense ratio, holds approximately $11.3B in assets under management, yields about 7.24%, and launched in 2012.
What is SPHY?
SPHY is State Street SPDR Portfolio High Yield Bond ETF, an ETF that tracks a US high-yield corporate bond index at a 0.05% expense ratio. SPHY holds US high-yield corporate bonds, bundled into one ticker. At 0.05% it undercuts the typical high yield bond fund, which runs nearer 0.30%. It distributes about 7.24%, and that payout moves with rates rather than being fixed. It launched in 2012.
SPHY is issued by State Street SPDR and tracks a US high-yield corporate bond index, so a single ticker gives you the whole portfolio of underlying holdings weighted by the index's methodology rather than by any active stock-picking.
What does SPHY hold?
SPHY does not hold a basket of individual stocks. It gets its exposure synthetically, through derivatives such as swaps and futures rather than by owning the underlying shares, so there is no conventional top-10 equity holdings list. See the description above for what SPHY actually tracks and how that exposure is built.
How do I invest in SPHY?
There are three common ways to get SPHY exposure. Buy shares (or fractional shares) of SPHY directly at any major broker that lists it. Hold it as a core position and layer more concentrated ideas on top. Or build it into a thematic portfolio in Walnut, so SPHY sits alongside other holdings that express the same thesis, with target weights you can rebalance toward. SPHY trades like a stock during market hours, so you buy it the same way you would any listed share.
New to buying funds? See how to buy an ETF, step by step.
Is SPHY a good buy?
Whether SPHY is a good buy depends less on any single call and more on your time horizon and what you already hold: it tracks a US high-yield corporate bond index, so the real question is whether you want that exposure in your mix and at what weight. We walk through valuation, concentration, and what would have to be true for it to outperform from here in is SPHY a buy?
The bottom line on SPHY
SPHY gives you a US high-yield corporate bond index exposure in one ticker at a 0.05% expense ratio. Most investors use it as a core holding and layer more concentrated thematic portfolios on top.
More on SPHY
Whether SPHY is worth buying today depends more on your time horizon and what you already hold than on any single call. We walk through valuation, concentration, and what would have to be true for it to outperform from here in is SPHY a buy?
SPHY yields 7.24% as of August 2026, paid by passing through the dividends of its underlying holdings. For the payout schedule, history, and how the distributions are taxed, see SPHY dividend: yield and schedule.
New to funds like SPHY? Start with what an ETF is, then how to buy an ETF, or browse the full guide to ETF investing.
Wondering how SPHY fits the portfolio you already own? Walnut is an AI investing app that connects your brokerage read-only and answers questions like that about your actual holdings: overlap, concentration, and how each position tracks the S&P 500. Compare the best AI portfolio analyzers or see the best AI investing apps in 2026.
Investing in SPHY with AI
Connect the broker you already use and ask Walnut's AI how SPHY fits what you actually hold: what it overlaps with, what it leaves you exposed to, and how it has tracked the S&P 500. Read-only by default, and you approve anything before it reaches your broker.
FAQ
What is SPHY's ticker symbol?
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SPHY, State Street SPDR Portfolio High Yield Bond ETF. Issued by State Street SPDR; tracks a US high-yield corporate bond index. Trades during US market hours, available at every major US brokerage.
What is SPHY's expense ratio?
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0.05% as of August 2026.
What are SPHY's top holdings?
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Top holdings as of August 2026: and others. See the full holdings table above.
How can I invest in SPHY through Walnut?
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Walnut isn't a broker. Connect a brokerage and Walnut sits on top to help you build and track thematic portfolios. SPHY can be a constituent alongside individual stocks.
How do I compare SPHY to similar ETFs?
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Put a few fields side by side: the expense ratio (fees compound over decades), the index or strategy it tracks, the top holdings and how much they overlap with what you already own, the dividend yield, and the AUM, liquidity, and bid-ask spread that affect trading costs. For index funds, tracking error (how closely it follows its index) and tax efficiency matter too. SPHY's figures are above; the full method is in Walnut's guide on how to compare ETFs.
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Walnut is informational, not investment advice. Holdings weights and fund statistics on this page are approximations stamped to August 2026; verify current figures against State Street SPDR's fund page or your broker before investing.