Category Review
Municipal bond funds are down for the year after a third-quarter selloff erased the first-half gain
iShares Core Universal USD Bond ETF
$44.19+0.04 (+0.09%)
- 0.06%
- $48.6B
- −1.5%
- 4.40%
- 5.7M sh
- $44.11
- low $43.75high $47.23
The ETF.net IUSB Grade
A
Score 85 out of 100
- 4 of 117
Score 85 of 100 falls in the A band. A is 70 or higher, B 55 to under 70, C 40 to under 55, D 25 to under 40, F under 25.
Cost
The fund’s net expense ratio, ranked against its category.A91 out of 100Rank 11 of 117Mission
Whether the fund did what it promised, tested against its stated mandate.A100 out of 100Rank 1 of 101Risk
How the fund held up when markets fell: downside volatility, drawdowns and tail loss.C50 out of 100Rank 39 of 116Tradability
How easy the fund is to trade: daily volume, and how far its price strays from net asset value.A89 out of 100Rank 4 of 117Holdings
How concentrated the fund is, and how complete and current its disclosed holdings are.A75 out of 100Rank 21 of 116Durability
Whether the fund is likely to stay open, judged by its age, its assets and its issuer’s assets.A94 out of 100Rank 5 of 117
Our read on IUSB
AMost core bond funds stop at investment grade. IUSB keeps going, folding high-yield USD debt into the same wrapper across roughly 18,000 bonds, for 0.06% a year.
The Fund seeks to track an index of U.S.-dollar-denominated bonds spanning investment-grade and high-yield sectors.
Why people hold it
- 0.06% a year, a fraction of what the typical broad bond fund in its category charges, and iShares has run it since 2014.
- Roughly 18,000 bonds spanning investment-grade and high-yield sectors, so one ticker covers ground a plain Agg tracker leaves on the table.ishares.com
- Tracks its index closely, trades heavily, and sits on a multi-billion-dollar asset base. Income is paid monthly.
- Among the strongest implementations in a crowded field of nearly 200 core bond funds.
Worth knowing
- That high-yield sleeve is the trade-off: more credit risk than an investment-grade-only fund, and more movement when spreads widen.
- BND, SPAB and SCHZ charge 0.03%, half IUSB's fee, but they stay inside investment grade.
- Payouts land monthly, but the amount floats with the coupons underneath. Nothing about the income stream is fixed.
IUSB Holdings
- Bonds
- 18,241
- 9%
- BLK Liquidity Temp Cash Inst #21
Sectors
- Treasury40.6%
- MBS Pass-Through19.5%
- Industrial18.4%
- Financial Institutions10.0%
- Sovereign3.3%
- Utility2.7%
- Agency2.4%
- CMBS1.2%
- Supranational1.0%
- Local Authority0.5%
- ABS0.3%
Geography
- United States83.96%
- Canada1.62%
- United Kingdom1.35%
- Japan0.81%
- Cayman Islands0.77%
- Mexico0.70%
- France0.66%
- Luxembourg0.62%
- 9.50%
IUSB Performance
Shows how $10,000 changes over the selected period, with cash distributions reinvested at the closing price on each ex-dividend date.
IUSB$9,853
Returns run to the Oct 12, 2026 close, with cash distributions reinvested. Each period starts on the same date that many months or years earlier. Periods over one year show the average yearly return.
| Period | IUSB |
|---|---|
| Year to date | −2.1% |
| 1 month | −1.1% |
| 3 months | −2.4% |
| 1 year | −1.5% |
| 3 years | +4.9% |
| 5 years | −0.1% |
| 10 years | +1.5% |
Calendar-year total return with cash distributions hypothetically reinvested at the ex-dividend date’s closing price. The current year shows year to date.
| Year | Return bar | IUSB |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 YTD | −2.1% | |
| 2025 | +7.4% | |
| 2024 | +2.1% | |
| 2023 | +6.2% | |
| 2022 | −13.0% | |
| 2021 | −1.3% | |
| 2020 | +7.6% |
IUSB in the news
IUSB Dividends
- 4.40%
- $1.94
- $0.15 per share
- Monthly
Distribution history
IUSB Risk
- 5.5%
How it’s calculated: standard deviation
The sample standard deviation of monthly total returns, multiplied by the square root of 12.
Uses up to 36 complete months, with at least 12 required. Total returns include reinvested distributions.
- 0.01
How it’s calculated: Sharpe ratio
Subtract each month’s Treasury-bill return from the fund’s monthly total return.
Divide the average of those excess returns by their sample standard deviation, then multiply by the square root of 12.
Uses up to 36 complete months, with at least 12 required. Each month uses the Treasury yield quoted at the end of the previous month.
- −17.4%
How it’s calculated: maximum drawdown
The largest percentage decline from an earlier peak, using total returns with reinvested distributions.
Uses up to five years through the last close, with at least 12 months required.
- 0.96
How it’s calculated: beta
The beta figure is supplied by FMP. The comparison index depends on the fund’s broad asset class.
IUSB Cost
0.06%
IUSB0.06%
- The middle half of US Aggregate Bond funds
- Median 0.34%
9 of the 113 US Aggregate Bond funds charge less.
Other funds in US Aggregate Bond
- ASCHZSchwab U.S. Aggregate Bond ETFExpense ratio 0.03%1 year return −1.9%
- ABNDVanguard Total Bond Market ETFExpense ratio 0.03%1 year return −1.9%
- ABKAGBNY Mellon Core Bond ETFExpense ratio 0.00%1 year return −1.9%
- AIAGGiShares Core International Aggregate Bond ETFExpense ratio 0.07%1 year return +0.4%
- AEAGGiShares ESG Aware U.S. Aggregate Bond ETFExpense ratio 0.10%1 year return −2.1%