Trading costs (including fund transfer and currency conversion costs) will mostly depend on your choice of broker and bank, although the London Stock Exchange will charge something. All of the funds I'm about to describe are
not recommended for U.S. persons.
SHYU, domiciled in Ireland, looks a bit expensive to me. The fund managers collect 0.50%/year. SDHY is pretty similar but invests in shorter term corporate bond maturities and has a 0.45% expense ratio. HYLD is similar again but invests in a more global index of corporate bonds, with a 0.50% expense ratio. These are all BlackRock iShares ETFs.
If you're considering any of these ETFs then I'd also have a look at what State Street offers, specifically SJNK, also domiciled in Ireland and traded on the London Stock Exchange, but with a total expense ratio of 0.40%. SJNK is for U.S. dollar denominated high yield corporate bonds. If you prefer euro denominated bonds then there's JNKE, also with a 0.40% TER. These two ETFs look like slightly more affordable options than what BlackRock offers.
I assume this question arises because junk bond funds have had a good run recently. That's often what happens, that somebody gets excited about an investment (or "investment") when its price has increased recently. That's precisely the wrong time to get interested in something if you're a buyer. You should be getting progressively more interested in an investment when it's getting
cheaper, other things being equal. "Apples are 15% more expensive now. Time to stock up on apples, right?" Wrong, usually -- although I certainly appreciate those who behave that way since they're helping me out.
