BLV vs IUSB

BLVAVanguard Long-Term Bond ETF

IUSBAiShares Core Universal USD Bond ETF

In short

BLV Most bond ETFs spread across every maturity. BLV camps at the long end, tracking an index of long-dated Treasuries and investment-grade corporates for 0.03% a year. Maximum interest-rate sensitivity, minimum price tag.

IUSB Most 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.

Stated mandate

BLV The fund seeks to track a market-weighted index of long-term, dollar-denominated bonds through an indexing approach. It invests at least 80% of assets in securities represented by the target index and uses sampling.

IUSB The Fund seeks to track an index of U.S.-dollar-denominated bonds spanning investment-grade and high-yield sectors.

Why people hold it

• BLV Costs 0.03% a year against a 0.36% median for its bond peer group. In indexed bonds, where everyone owns roughly the same paper, the fee gap is most of the difference.
• Not a Treasuries-only long bond fund. The Bloomberg U.S. Long Government/Credit Float Adjusted Index blends long government bonds with investment-grade corporate credit.
• Running since 2007 and now a multibillion-dollar fund that trades actively, so entering and exiting rarely means paying up on the spread.
• Pays monthly, and sits inside Vanguard's index bond lineup alongside BND, one of the strongest cost profiles in a 187-fund field.

• IUSB 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

• BLV Long maturities are the point, and they cut both ways: prices move sharply when long-term rates move. This is the twitchiest corner of the investment-grade bond market.
• The corporate side brings credit risk that a Treasury-only long fund does not carry.
• Vanguard samples the index rather than owning every bond in it, holding roughly 170 issues, so returns can diverge slightly from the benchmark.

• IUSB 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.

Full BLV profile⁠

Full IUSB profile⁠