EVSD vs ISTB

EVSDCEaton Vance Short Duration Income ETF

ISTBAiShares Core 1-5 Year USD Bond ETF

In short

EVSD A 1992-vintage short-duration credit strategy wearing an ETF wrapper: it measures itself against the Bloomberg 1-5 Year U.S. Credit Index and can hold up to a quarter of assets in high yield, at below the typical cost in its bond peer group.

ISTB The Agg with the long end trimmed off, plus a dash of high yield. ISTB tracks a broad USD bond index that stops at five-year maturities, so you get core bond plumbing with a fraction of the rate sensitivity, for six basis points.

Stated mandate

EVSD The proposed ETF was designed to have the same investment objective and a similar principal strategy as the predecessor short-duration income portfolio, while allowing up to 25% of net assets in high-yield debt instruments.

ISTB The fund seeks to track an index of U.S.-dollar bonds rated investment grade or high yield, with remaining maturities from one to five years.

Why people hold it

• EVSD Costs 0.24% a year against a 0.36% median for its aggregate-bond peer group.
• Its yardstick is the Bloomberg 1-5 Year U.S. Credit Index, so the portfolio works the short end of the curve rather than the full maturity ladder.
• Not a startup idea in a new box: the fund carries the objective and core approach of a predecessor short-duration income portfolio dating to 1992.
• Pays monthly, and it is a billion-dollar-plus fund that sits in the upper half of a crowded bond cohort.

• ISTB Six basis points a year, a fraction of the typical broad bond ETF fee. On a bond fund, every basis point of fee comes straight out of the income you keep.ishares.com
• The index casts a wider credit net than the Agg: investment grade plus high yield, thousands of individual bonds deep.ishares.com
• Nothing in the index matures past five years, so the portfolio carries far less interest-rate sensitivity than full-maturity core bond funds like BND, SPAB or SCHZ.ishares.com
• Running since 2012, multi-billion-dollar, actively traded, and it pays income monthly rather than quarterly.

Worth knowing

• EVSD Up to 25% of net assets can go into high-yield debt, so credit risk sits alongside rate risk in the mix.
• The index heavyweights in this cohort (BND, SPAB, SCHZ) charge 0.03%. You pay up here for the short-duration credit tilt.
• Moderately traded rather than one of the busiest tickers on the tape, so spreads can widen when bond markets get choppy.

• ISTB The high yield sleeve adds credit risk that investment-grade-only short bond funds skip.ishares.com
• Short maturities cut both ways: smaller price swings when rates rise, and less lift when they fall.
• Not a cash substitute. The share price moves daily, and maturing bonds get replaced at whatever rates prevail, so the monthly payout drifts.ishares.com

Full EVSD profile⁠

Full ISTB profile⁠