Barclays Global Investors on Wednesday launched on the American Stock Exchange the iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond Fund (AMEX Stock Symbol HGY), billed as the first exchange-traded fund investing in high-yield bonds.

The fund uses for its benchmark the iBoxx $ Liquid High Yield Index, developed by the International Index Company.

The fund will hold 50 liquid securities representing a cross section of the high-yield market. The index will be re-balanced at the end of each month, and the number of holdings could deviate from 50 at times.