This winning high-yield bond strategy limits -2-

The table continues with two exchange-traded funds that track broad U.S. corporate high-yield indexes. The State Street SPDR Portfolio High Yield Bond ETF SPHY is designed to track the performance of the ICE BofA U.S. High Yield Index. The State Street SPDR Bloomberg High Yield Bond ETF JNK tracks the Bloomberg High Yield Very Liquid Index of U.S. high-yield corporate bonds with "above average liquidity," per State Street's description of the fund.

Eight actively managed mutual funds follow. These are all of the funds on LSEG's list that are benchmarked to the Bloomberg U.S. Corporate High Yield Index, have total assets of at least $100 million and were launched at least 10 years ago. These are sorted by average returns for 10 years through May 31. There are more notes about the data below the table.

Note: The MML Barings High Yield Fund was known as MassMutual High Yield Fund until Feb. 1.

 
                                                                           1-year return  3-year avg, return  5-year avg. return  10-year avg. return  Net expense ratio 
Intrepid Income Fund; Institutional                                                7.88%               9.69%               6.23%                5.83%              1.01% 
Bloomberg U.S. Corporate High Yield Index                                          7.57%               9.36%               4.39%                5.88%                  - 
State Street SPDR Portfolio High Yield Bond ETF                                    7.52%               9.31%               4.49%                5.20%              0.05% 
State Street SPDR Bloomberg High Yield Bond ETF                                    7.70%               9.08%               3.77%                5.04%              0.40% 
MML Barings High Yield Fund; Service                                               8.01%               9.76%               4.73%                5.79%              0.75% 
Victory High Yield Fund; A                                                         6.66%               9.52%               2.45%                5.66%              1.02% 
Vanguard High-Yield Corporate Fund; Investor                                       6.98%               8.40%               4.08%                5.20%              0.22% 
Hartford High Yield Fund; A                                                        7.98%               8.45%               3.79%                5.18%              0.95% 
Guggenheim High Yield Fund; A                                                      4.93%               8.06%               4.02%                5.17%              0.91% 
Janus Henderson High-Yield Fund; D                                                 9.72%               9.41%               3.49%                5.11%              0.75% 
Morgan Stanley Pathway High Yield Fund                                             7.18%               8.61%               3.60%                4.77%              0.85% 
Thrivent High Yield Fund; A                                                        7.07%               8.14%               3.75%                4.58%              0.81% 
                                                                                                 Sources: LSEG, FactSet (for Bloomberg U.S. Corporate High Yield Index) 

All fund returns are net of expenses. The Intrepid Income Fund has annual expenses of 1.01% of assets, which means annual fees of $101 for a $10,000 investment.

Net expense ratios are shown for all of the funds. These are the full expense ratios except for four of the funds, which are temporarily waiving some expenses:

-- The MML Barings High Yield Fund's DLHYX gross expense ratio for its Service share class is 0.80%, but expenses are being limited to 0.75% until at least Jan. 31, 2027.

-- The Victory High Yield Fund GUHYX has a gross expense ratio of 1.13% for its Class A shares, but expenses will be limited to 1.02% until at least April 30, 2027.

-- The Janus Henderson High-Yield Fund JNHYX has a gross expense ratio of 0.81% for its Class D shares; expenses will be limited to 0.75% until at least Oct. 28.

-- The Morgan Stanley Pathway High Yield Fund's THYUX gross expense ratio is 1.05%, but expenses are planned to be limited to 0.85% through 2026, unless the fund's board of trustees decides otherwise.

The Intrepid Income Fund has outperformed all other funds on the above list for the five-year and 10-year periods, while underperforming the Bloomberg U.S. Corporate High Yield Index slightly for the 10-year period.

The Intrepid fund ranks second for average three-year return, trailing the MML Barings High Yield Fund.

The Intrepid fund ranks fourth for one-year returns through May 31, behind the Janus Henderson High Yield Fund, the MML Barings High Yield Fund and the Hartford High Yield Fund.

Keep in mind that although we have shown one-year performance figures, these funds are all designed to be long-term investments for committed investors seeking income. They have varying strategies and risk profiles, which you should learn about through your own research before making decisions. A patient investor will enjoy a steady stream of income but will also experience periods of price volatility. The returns have been attractive, but patience has been required to achieve solid returns for long periods.

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

06-02-26 1217ET