Xtrackers Low Beta High Yield Bond ETF

Xtrackers Low Beta High Yield Bond ETF (HYDW) is a DWS index fund that holds US dollar junk bonds, meaning corporate bonds rated below investment grade. Within each sector it picks the bonds with lower yields, because those have tended to swing less than the wider high-yield market. It pays income monthly and yielded 5.6% over the 12 months to October 27, 2026. It costs 0.20% a year, against a 0.50% average for similar funds.

• Over the year to Oct 27, 2026, HYDW returned +2.8%, 3rd of 8 among similar funds.
• Its 5-year annualized return was +3.5%.
• In the 2020 COVID crash it fell 17.7% and regained its old high 3.8 months after the low.
• Its worst full calendar year was 2022 (-7.9%); its best was 2019 (+11.4%).
• The deepest fall in its price history was 17.8% (Feb 14, 2020 to Mar 23, 2020), recovered by Jul 17, 2020.

As of Aug 31, 2026, the fund held 581 securities; the ten largest made up 6.56% of assets, and 3.38% sat in cash and money-market holdings.

The bonds mature in 3.9 years on average (weighted by size), with an average coupon of 5.83%.

• Over the three months to Aug 31, 2026, investors withdrew a net $2.3M (creations minus redemptions, per the N-PORT report).
• Monthly total returns reported for that quarter: +0.29%, -0.05%, +0.81%.

HYDW tracks the Solactive USD High Yield Corporates Total Market Low Beta Index. Solactive AG builds the index and is independent of DWS. The index starts with US dollar corporate bonds rated below investment grade by Moody's, S&P or Fitch. Each bond needs at least $400 million outstanding and must come from an issuer with at least $1 billion outstanding. Its original maturity can be no longer than 15 years, and it needs at least one year left to run (20 months for new additions).

Next comes the "low beta" screen. Beta measures how much a bond's price moves with the overall market. Within each sector, only bonds that yield less than the sector's median qualify, because lower-yielding bonds tend to move less. The index weights the remaining bonds by market value and caps any one issuer at 3%. It is rebalanced monthly. As of October 31, 2025, it held 578 bonds from 268 issuers. Consumer cyclical and capital goods companies made up a large share.

The fund doesn't buy every bond in the index. It uses representative sampling, which means holding a subset of bonds with similar traits to the whole index. At least 80% of its assets go into index bonds. Many holdings are Rule 144A bonds, which are sold privately to large institutions. The fund may lend out up to one-third of its assets to earn extra income. Its portfolio turnover was 54%.

• HYDW charges 0.2% a year, versus an average of 0.5% for the similar funds below (2nd of 8, cheapest first).
• Using the prospectus's standard example, $10,000 invested would cost about $20 in the first year and $255 over 10 years (assuming a 5% annual return).

HYDW pays monthly income from short-dated junk bonds at a lower cost than most similar funds, but it carries real credit risk.

HYDW could add monthly income to a portfolio. It yielded 5.6% over the 12 months to October 27, 2026, and charges 0.20% a year. In the SEC's standard example, that comes to about $20 in the first year on a $10,000 investment. The fund launched in 2018, so it has no record from the 2008 crisis. It fell 17.7% in the 2020 COVID crash but recovered in about four months. The 2022 drop took longer to heal: it fell 12.5% and needed about 14.5 months to recover. Its worst calendar year was 2022, with a 7.9% loss. Someone drawing income in a year like that might have to sell shares at low prices, and defaults on junk bonds can reduce payouts. Its official five-year average annual return was 2.96% through December 31, 2024. Past results don't predict the future, and a plan should look at the whole portfolio, not one fund.

Matched by bond funds with the closest average maturity and issuer mix (N-PORT).