European corporate high yield's lower duration vs. U.S.

The Bloomberg Pan-European High Yield Total Return index has consistently had a lower duration than the Bloomberg U.S. Corporate High Yield Total Return index. Over the last year, the European index's modified adjusted duration as measured by Bloomberg has hovered in the 3.5 range, currently sitting at 3.4. During that span, the U.S. high-yield index has been closer to the most recent 4.

Turning to historical performance, year-to-date through Oct. 27, the European high-yield index has returned about 3.9% compared with the U.S. high yield index's 4.3%. The one-year, three-year, and five-year returns, all as of Oct. 27, were higher for the U.S. high yield market by wider margins.

However, Europe's 10-year annualized return of 7.1% edged out the U.S. by roughly 30 basis points.