FSTB vs IGSB

FSTB—Fidelity Short-Term Bond ETF

IGSBAiShares 1-5 Year Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF

In short

FSTB New wrapper, seasoned engine: FSTB is the exchange-traded share class of Fidelity's long-running Short-Term Bond Fund, holding mostly investment-grade debt of all types. That discretion costs more than the index crowd charges.

IGSB Corporate credit with the rate risk dialed down: roughly 4,700 investment-grade bonds, none maturing past five years, for four basis points. iShares has run it since 2007.

Stated mandate

FSTB The fund seeks high current income while preserving capital. It normally invests at least 80% of assets in investment-grade debt securities and related repurchase agreements.

IGSB The fund seeks to track an index containing U.S. dollar-denominated investment-grade corporate bonds with remaining maturities from one through five years.

Why people hold it

• FSTB Not a fresh start in disguise: the ETF is a share class of Fidelity's existing Short-Term Bond Fund, so it plugs into a portfolio and team that predate the 2026 listing.fidelity.comsec.gov
• Broad mandate: normally 80%+ in investment-grade debt of all types plus repurchase agreements, seeking income while preserving capital, rather than tracking one corporate-bond index.fidelity.com
• Short-maturity by design, which mechanically dampens price swings from rate moves compared with longer-dated bond funds.fidelity.com

• IGSB Four basis points a year, a fraction of the typical investment-grade corporate bond fund's fee and level with the cheapest tier of its peer group.
• One-to-five-year maturities mean prices move less when rates move than long-dated corporate funds. Same corporate credit, shorter leash.ishares.com
• Thousands of individual bonds tracking the ICE BofA 1-5 Year US Corporate Index, with income paid monthly.ishares.com
• Trading since 2007, actively traded, and one of the strongest builds in the investment-grade corporate group on cost, portfolio and execution.

Worth knowing

• FSTB At 0.21% a year it costs more than the short-corporate index heavyweights (VCSH and SCHJ at 0.03%, IGSB and SPSB at 0.04%) and more than the peer-group median.
• Our review puts it in the bottom quartile of a crowded short-term investment-grade field, mostly on cost and how it measures up against cheap index trackers.
• The ETF class listed in 2026, so its on-exchange history is short, trading is only moderate, and income arrives quarterly rather than monthly.

• IGSB Short maturities cut both ways: less price damage when rates rise, less lift when they fall.
• These are company bonds, not Treasuries. Investment grade, but credit spreads can widen and prices move with them.
• Only the front of the curve. Sibling IGIB runs 5-10 years and USIG spans broad maturities, both at the same fee.

Full FSTB profile⁠

Full IGSB profile⁠