Skip to navigationSkip to main contentSkip to right columnADVERTISEMENTDJ ShawWed, July 15, 2026 at 6:10 PM GMT+2 3 min readThis article was originally published on ETFTrends.com.Assets in the T. Rowe Price U.S. High Yield ETF (THYF) have grown to $845.6 million, according to ETF Database, as the fund leans into a high yield bond market that its managers describe as structurally stronger than it was before the 2008 financial crisis.Key Takeaways:THYF's assets reached $845.6 million as investors sought actively managed high yield income.Credit quality has climbed, with BB-rated bonds now 62% of the benchmark index.Fundamentals have held up through the pandemic, the 2022 energy crisis and recent tariff disruptions.Credit spreads, the extra yield investors demand over safer government bonds, sit near their tightest levels in years. Even so, the ICE BofA Global High Yield Index yielded 7.31% as of March 31, according to research from T. Rowe Price portfolio manager Michael Connelly and portfolio specialist Anton Dombrovskiy.That figure reflects yield to worst, the lowest return investors could expect if bonds are paid off early. Yields at that threshold have historically preceded a median 12-month return of 7.6%.T. Rowe Price applies this research through THYF, an actively managed high yield ETF. The fund pulled in $30.92 million over the past month, according to ETF Database, pushing its dividend yield to 6.96%. That's above both its ETF Database category average of 6.35% and its FactSet segment average of 6.31%.See more: What Rising Structural Inflation Means for Your Bond PortfolioQuality among high yield issuers has also improved. Bonds rated BB, the highest tier below investment grade, made up 62% of the ICE BofA Global High Yield Index as of March 31, 2026. That's up from 39% in 2007, according to the T. Rowe Price research.CCC-rated bonds, among the weakest tier before default, fell from roughly 15% of the index in 2007 to 7% as of March 2026, Connelly and Dombrovskiy wrote. Default rates across the asset class also remain below their 20-year average of 3.5% for U.S. high yield bonds.Global high yield markets have grown to roughly six times their size in 2000, according to Connelly and Dombrovskiy. That expansion has widened the pool of countries, sectors and issuers available to investors, offering exposure to different economic and credit cycles.Trading conditions have also improved. Bid/ask spreads, the gap between what buyers offer and sellers accept, have narrowed as electronic and portfolio trading have expanded, according to the report. That shift has reduced the extra return investors once demanded for holding less liquid bonds.Terms and Privacy PolicyEU DSA contactPrivacy & Cookie SettingsMore Info